


Dudley Dursley and the Blood Magic

by Silverwing013



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Reverse starting situation, what if
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-08-06 19:55:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 27,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16394090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverwing013/pseuds/Silverwing013
Summary: Living in the wizarding home of his aunt and uncle, a young boy lacking in magic struggles with being on the outside and trying to prove his worth.





	1. Chapter 1

There was no such thing as normal on Godric's Hollow. Sure, the village looked it. The boy knew that from picture books and newspapers. There was the lit square and pub, which he was far too young to get anything good from. Though, he did enjoy asking every time. The spry young man who'd taken over the family pub last year thought it funny. Quaint cottages lined the narrow path the blond boy made his way quickly down.

He was huffing by the time he reached St. Jerome's Church, blue eyes lighting up at the sight of the stain glass windows. Possibly his favorite place in the village. No one really came here his age, so it was a good spot.

The blond dug out the box he'd hidden the second pew from the back, dragging it out and dumping all the broken pieces of his aunt's thrown out vase. A friend of his uncle had done so by accident, but she hadn't complained. It'd been a showy gift from a hated family. The boy didn't reveal to his aunt it wasn't truly an accident. She believed everyone deserved a certain amount of kindness.

"But you like it, don't you Aunt Lily," he asked after his uncle's jokes died down about the hated family.

Both him and his cousin blinked. "You do?"

Dudley eyed the five sparkling pieces in front of him. The light shining from the church's windows made for interesting colors. He held up a mostly yellow piece of vase up into red tinged light, grinning at the new color change on the floor. Then he drooped. Probably the closest he could ever get to doing something.

While there was no such thing as normal on Godric's Hollow, some residents believed it was due to the very thing that made it decidedly not. Magic.

Dudley had seen it in action. More than he could count or had the attention span to keep track of. There was even a spell for short term memory loss used if any of the normal people, like him, noticed it. Except, Dudley was a special case.

His mum's sister happened to be born with magic. And her husband, his uncle James, was born to a family full of magic and thus born with it as well. With both parents being magic, his cousin was born with magic too.

And Dudley lived with them.

It made the spell for short term memory loss seem silly when he lived with a couple wizards and a witch. But he half wished it didn't. Because although his Aunt Lily somehow had magic with her parents being normal, Dudley's mum did not. Neither did Dudley's dad. And it didn't seem Dudley was going to be like Aunt Lily before his eleventh birthday. And the 23rd of this month was fast approaching.

Being the only normal resident on Godric's Hollow that knew the truth meant Dudley felt weird around anyone. He knew, but couldn't do. Those that could do, made sure no one else knew.

He'd heard his Aunt Lily sympathizing late this morning to James. They'd thought he'd left the cottage after breakfast like his cousin had done. Dudley lingered at the corner, wanting to burst out and tell his aunt her feelings didn't change anything. Then he heard her smack her husband. Apparently there were a few people out there born to those with magic, but didn't have it. The opposite of Aunt Lily. People who knew and couldn't do like Dudley, awesome.

So if the half of Dudley that wished to discover magic in himself didn't fall through by his eleventh birthday, he knew exactly what kind of birthday gift he wanted. Or whom really. Someone like Ted Tonks was great, but not really close to Dudley's age. Granted, the older man was in the same boat with being normal and knowing, but he knew what he was getting himself into when he married a witch.

But someone born to magic and couldn't do it idea sounded much more appealing to Dudley. They could be his age. Every other kid around Godric's Hollow were all no-special-case-muggle, except for his cousin.

The blond quickly glanced around St. Jerome's, then focused intently on the broken vase. He snapped his wrist out. "Reparo!"

Nothing. He pursed his lips and glared. "Reparo!"

Still nothing. "Reparo!"

Dudley puffed his cheeks and tried to keep the image of the unbroken vase in his mind. "Reparo! Reparo! Come on, reparo go!"

Upset already, he bellowed at it. "I'll smash you more if you don't! I've only got a week left!"

"Um, Dudley?"

Dudley squeaked, spinning around to see his cousin had caught him trying to magic the vase back together.

"I don't think it works that way. Being threatened."

"No one asked you Harry," Dudley spat out and hurriedly put the pieces back into his box. "What are you doing? Stalking me like the bat?"

His cousin scowled. "I was not! And mum hates that."

"Everyone hates that," Dudley was quick to correct.

Which was true. Uncle James was the only one who thought it was funny to transfigure something into a bat to follow Aunt Lily around at various times. The transfigured bat always got in the way of Dudley and Harry since it stayed out of Aunt Lily's physical striking distance. As did Uncle James, dancing around tables and couches and beds to avoid his wife getting a hold of him. It became even worse if any of Uncle James's friends were there.

Speaking of those friends, his cousin piped back, "What about Sirius?"

Dudley stared deadpan. "He's far more excited when the bat finally gets blown up."

"Yeah," Harry gave him. Then leaned to look into the box Dudley was slowly pushing back under the pew as they spoke. "Isn't that the colored vase the Malfoys gave out at the Ministry last Halloween? Peter will just bust it again."

"Probably." Peter was the clumsiest of Uncle James's mates. Kind of twitchy really. Dudley, Harry, and Aunt Lily all knew he got more nervous after asked to accidently break something for them. It was easier to not blame Peter, but the ones who pushed him about it. Uncle James and Sirius were particularly awful when being mischievous. But since the vase lasted from October to May, seven months, Aunt Lily was giving Peter the benefit of the doubt.

"You could…" Harry trailed off. Dudley looked back up from putting his box back to see the top of his cousin's messy black hair. Green eyes peered back up through round glasses and the hair as he bit at his lip. "I know mum liked the thing, but you could always fix it with a bit of glue. Mum'd still love seeing someone going to the trouble of fixing it."

Dudley scowled and his cousin ducked his head back down. It never took Harry long to bounce back though.

"Hey! I've got an idea. Sirius says magic is in the blood, or at least his family thought so. Which means you've got to have it in your blood too Dudley. An aunt and cousin isn't too far off for being related by blood, maybe…maybe we can help it along. Like when you were little and had that blood infusion thing. The muggle doctors made sure the blood they pulled out of the bank were matching your O blood stuff—oye! I'm sorry!"

Harry was much more nimble than Dudley, even if Dudley was more familiar with the church area than his smaller cousin. Dudley only made it a few rows through the cemetery before Harry dashed in front of his path. The long light of sunset hit his cousin fully, shadows growing all around in an ominous way, causing Dudley to shudder and inch away from the darkness. And then winced painfully. It was as if he and Harry stood in a pair of car headlights. His fists clenched, upset, feeling the ghostly pain of his left leg and the very real one in his chest. Dudley hated it.

"I'm sorry Dud! I didn't bring the car accident up to make you mad."

"What did you think Harry," Dudley snapped and shoved his cousin. Harry stumbled back into a Bagshot gravestone. "I'd be happy to remember the accident that killed my parents when I was five?"

Black hair stuck farther upwards with how fast Harry shook his head. His cousin was on an excited roll, pressing closer as he spoke.

"No, no! It's just, I was going through it the other day thinking about what Sirius said. And I remembered that info and scrapbook Mum put together for you about Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon and the accident, it had that stuff about them giving a stranger's blood to you. Well, matching O blood I guess. But, I mean, come on, we don't need any muggle doctor to tell us our blood ought to match or be close, so we can just do it ourselves! Mum's high shelf books even reference blood is powerful in a bit of magic."

Suspicious and not altogether sure of where his cousin was going, Dudley poked roughly at Harry's shoulder.

"Ow. Oh come on, I meant it about it not being about the accident. Don't you see? If magic is in the blood and yours is close to it, but not letting you do anything, maybe we can help it get close enough to make the magic leap. I'm okay giving you some of mine." Harry grinned under his extremely messy hair. "We're cousins after all."

Blue eyes blinked, confused. Then it clicked and Dudley went wide eyed at his cousin. Harry grinned even wider and nodded his head in confirmation.

By the time they got home, the streetlamps were on and the sun was fully down. Which meant it was far past late on the summer curfew and Aunt Lily was impossible to sneak around with all her years of practice dealing with Uncle James and his friends. Dudley and Harry were swooped upon before they even came up with a plan to get inside without notice. They took her upset and worry and anger at them being out later than she liked easily enough. She wasn't really mad. And what they had been late for was worth whatever punishment she wanted to give them.

But it came real close when Uncle James remarked over Harry's wrapped hand. Then James and Lily noticed Dudley's own wrapped arm kept behind his back. When the story came out, Harry's parents yelled in volumes that far outclassed any your-in-trouble voices that'd come before.

Dudley and Harry shared nervous looks.

"I think it's still worth it," Harry whispered later. He'd snuck over to Dudley's room while Aunt Lily and Uncle James argued loudly downstairs. Neither Dudley or his cousin knew what though, so there must have been a spell up to keep it from them. "Don't you think? I hope my blood works out in helping yours get your magic out."

Dudley nibbled on his lip, but nodded. "Yeah." It'd be nice to not be so alone in the middle of things anymore. It wasn't as if he could ignore magic and his knowledge of it, being completely normal and like other unenlightened muggles was a goal of belonging that appeared truly impossible. But he had magical relatives, it ought to be possible his blood had it too.

The blond no longer half wished one way or the other anymore. Tonight Dudley fully wished with every fiber he had that this nudge along would work. That his blood would not just be closely related, but fully preforming magic.

There was no much thing as normal on Godric's Hollow.

* * *

Author's Note: Posting just to see where this goes. I enjoy thinking 'What if' and various scenarios. This one should be obvious. I switched Harry and Dudley's living situations from the beginning. In a note of irony, I placed the Dursleys end in a car crash. Let me know what you think of the idea.


	2. Chapter 2

If there were a marking system of how wrong something you did was, the person seated at their table the morning after would rank top. The sight of him caused both Dudley and his cousin to freeze. There were guardians, teachers, officers of law, and hospitals. And then there were the twinkling blue eyes of the closest thing Dudley and Harry had to a grandfather.

The two boys huddled tightly together when Albus steered Lily and James out. The older man was all reassuring with everyone, but Dudley didn't trust that. No one in this family was that calm.

Dudley fidgeted as Albus carefully grasped his arm and turned it to look at the area. Without saying anything, Albus pulled at the edge of the bandage. It disappointed Dudley to see nothing out of the ordinary in it. He'd been hoping for a possible sign of change at the entry spot. Without letting any sign of what he thought come through his face, Albus took Harry's hand and looked it over.

"Well," he finally spoke. "It appears as though the two of you had an interesting night. Why don't you tell me about it?"

Dudley peered over at his cousin, whose head had gone up in relief. Then Dudley peeked over to Albus and froze at the focused blue eyes over the pleasant smile. This had trouble written all over it. The man never lost the twinkle in his eyes no matter what people did. Usually something Uncle James or Sirius did, sometimes Harry, but Dudley had thankfully stayed out of Albus's sight for the most part. But there was no twinkle of amusement now.

His cousin rambled on about how they thought the blood was close enough and thought the idea could work, hands moving as he explained. Albus nodded as Harry explained. Dudley stood in fear and trembled when the blue eyes shifted to study him as his cousin became distracted by telling the story. When the eyes suddenly snapped away, Dudley breathed a sigh of relief. Until he realized why.

"Blood based magic? From your mother's books?" Harry's head bobbed. "Can you show me them Harry?"

Quick and bright at the interest, his cousin led Albus to the bookcase and pointed up the highest shelf, covered with a slide cover and lock. Albus raised an eyebrow at Harry. Dudley wasn't too surprised at seeing his cousin rock back on his heels, grinning. Harry could be surprisingly sneaky for the oddest of things. Loud and outgoing, anyone else outside of family and close family friends were taken by surprise at realizing Harry was even capable of doing it. Luck, accident, not paying attention were all used. Dudley knew it was skill. He'd been dragged along on a couple of Harry's escapades.

Aunt Lily never liked Uncle James and his friends encouraging Harry. They'd often tell Harry and Dudley all sorts of pranks they got up to during when kids. Harry already realized and was bright with anticipation of nicking a map of the school into his possession the minute he entered Hogwarts. As his cousin cheerfully stated, his mum wouldn't be there.

Dudley didn't worry too much about Harry. Well, not after he overheard Uncle James whining at Aunt Lily mailing a professor on Harry potentially pushing limits if she or Dudley wasn't there. Considering the professor had dealt with Uncle James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus in school; it relieved Dudley somewhat. He knew Aunt Lily didn't know everything that happened when it was just him and Harry. Otherwise, she would not have named Dudley as someone to hold Harry back. His cousin _liked_ including him in everything.

Which is why the upcoming September felt wrong.

Dudley shuffled back as Albus opened the locked shelf and brought down the book Harry pointed at. He hadn't been the best guest after the accident and hospital stay. Downright hated living in the same cottage because his mum and dad wouldn't have approved to freaks raising him. He'd only wanted them back, not be with the people his mum called the freak family under her breath. When Aunt Lily offered going back to his old school rather than the large primary Harry went to, Dudley took it.

Harry, who Dudley had never been nice to, threw a fit and made Aunt Lily cry at insisting family sticks together. When Dudley told off his cousin for making his nice mum cry, he'd gone to shock at being the one to make her cry more. Now, it embarrassed Dudley he had only thought of Aunt Lily as a freak. He'd been a terrible kid. Aunt Lily had been nothing but nice when they took him in. The offer to go stay at his school for the next fall was the first time he realized it. Dudley couldn't believe how terrible he'd been.

Unfortunately, going back to his school had not really turned out well. He hadn't been the same kid, pushing his way around to be the leader his dad wanted him to be. It wasn't in Dudley. And his classmates from the year before, the year he'd not finished, had made him cards and candy and wished him well when he'd been at the hospital. They all seemed happy to see him walking to class. But his old friends didn't like that Dudley wasn't willing to push the other kids around on the playground. Harry had been confused, asking him why he was friends with kids who made him do things he didn't really want to do. The school year didn't go well for Dudley. By the time it all came to a head with Dudley and his old friends and Harry, well.

There was a reason Aunt Lily enrolled Dudley and Harry to the larger primary school Harry had gone to his first year. And Remus worked there as a teacher. If anything did go wrong, and it did, he was there.

Dudley and his cousin had been together all these years. To separate from Harry felt wrong. And lonely. He peeked under his bandages again. Nothing. He looked back up and froze. He'd gotten too comfortable. Albus had been watching him the whole time.

Wide eyed, Dudley slid back behind Harry. His cousin snickered. Dudley prodded Harry in the back before he could make his usual joke on not being big enough to hide Dudley. It wasn't about hiding, it was about trying to get Albus to not look at him like he was under study.

"Dudley." The blond hunkered his head down. His cousin stiffened and then stood as tall as his tiny body could. Albus chuckled. "There's nothing to fear from me. Harry was just explaining why he sacrificed some of his blood to you. He's apparently been watching you at the church trying to preform magic."

Blue eyes went wide. His cousin ducked his head right before Dudley jammed his finger into his back. Harry was quick to gaze back up with eager eyes.

"I'm sorry Dud, but I was worried. You've not spent any of the summer hols with me and I followed you a few times." Dudley snorted. A few times. "Okay, like everyday. You not having magic never bothered me, you know? I didn't think it bothered you. But then, suddenly, it mattered. Because you looked so mad about it and I noticed you'd make angry comments whenever I asked to hang out and I wanted to help you somehow since it seemed so important to you. No wonder you never said anything. Even Mum said there was nothing we could do to change who you were, but you're my cousin. I'm not not going to do something to help you."

Harry gave a crooked grin, looking up to Albus with bright eyes. "So? Mum and Dad freaked out, but we're both okay. Did it work Albus? Did it? Can you tell?"

Albus's mouth twitched. "Give me a moment Harry. I've got questions for your cousin here first."

His cousin grumbled. Dudley swallowed as the focused blue eyes shifted back onto him.

"Now Dudley. You boys didn't just add Harry's blood into your cut, you pressed them together, didn't you?" The older man cracked a smile and joke. "Almost like the close friendship of those boys in that delightful muggle film we watched a few summers back. I remember even Lily taught me that day when she informed James of how it wasn't like the dark magic for us wizards and witches."

"Dad was horrified," Harry chirped up and then his smile fell to panic. "Dark? Dark magic?"

"No, no Harry. Neither of you boys forced the other to give blood for evil intentions, did you?" Dudley shook his head with his cousin. "There, see? And although the book mentions it, there were no dark rituals listed for you. It is only a book speculating what caused seemingly magical miracles."

Harry drooped. "So, my blood didn't do anything?" He scoffed his shoe on the ground and looked up with watery eyes through wild bangs. "Sorry Dud. I got us in trouble for nothing. Still worth it though," he muttered.

Albus said nothing to agree with his cousin Dudley noticed. And his blue eyes still held sharp focus. "Why did you press your cut against Harry's? I promise there is nothing to fear in telling me. Just an old man curious about his favorite little boys."

Harry perked up at that. "Are you sure you can still say that when classes start up…professor?"

The old man laughed. "Oh, I'm sure you'll try to cause enough of a nuisance like your father to change that, but this old man is stubborn my boy."

His cousin grinned broadly. Then Albus looked back to Dudley, who scowled. He knew he did wrong the second he saw the man sitting at the kitchen table. He wasn't going to drop his guard. Er, again anyway.

"Aren't you going to answer him Dudley?"

"I thought it'd make up for any blood you gave me," Dudley reluctantly told quietly towards the floor. "It's not good to lose too much blood. I wanted to make sure you didn't have to go to the hospital Har."

He could see Harry go pale in looking up from the ground. "I didn't even think of that! Bloody hell!"

"Language," Albus said simply. His cousin didn't even notice. Dudley blinked, startled. He hadn't meant to shock Harry. "Well, I must say, you two boys keep an old man's life all the more exciting and fresh. And it's good to see cousins caring so much for each other. I think I'll take Lily up on her offer of orange juice instead of coffee this morning. You boys have given me enough to stay awake today I think."

Dudley caught sight of Albus winking at them as he left. Hope and worry sprang up within him. His eyes were still focused rather than twinkling. They'd done wrong after all. But, he seemed to think their reasons for it mattered, so possibly, could it come out right?

He choked, the air leaving his lungs, Harry squeezing him tight. "I'm sorry Dudley! I promise I didn't lose enough blood to go to the hospital, I swear! I didn't mean to make you think about that again! Want one of my Chocolate Frogs?"

"Yes." Dudley never turned down a piece of chocolate. Nor did he wonder where Harry kept getting all of it from. Godric's Hollow didn't have a store that sold that kind, Aunt Lily never gave enough money for more than one piece when they did go to one that did, and Dudley was the only one who could get Remus to part from his chocolate stash. Just another way Harry was surprisingly sneaky, even around Dudley in those candy stores, because Dudley was usually observant enough with his cousin to catch onto what his aunt and uncle did not. But Dudley wouldn't question getting chocolate when Harry shared it.

But it figured that the Chocolate Frog Card was Albus Dumbledore, Dudley thought sourly.

* * *

Author's Note: Just my 'What If' idea continuing. I've been wondering if anyone has read anything similar of circumstances being switched. I've read a few stories of James and Lily and Harry together in alternate worlds or some other way, but they focus on Harry and forget Harry's other family members usually.


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn't good when Aunt Lily started fretting. Dudley threw a desperate look over to his cousin. And found Harry was too busy scheming something behind a tree with his dad and Sirius, Peter playing an amused looking lookout. Remus noticed, giving Dudley a wry grin and shrug. The man was stuck at the picnic table, most likely trying to explain to Dudley's Aunt Marge why there was no alcoholic drinks. As if his aunt needed more reason to start speaking her mind more than she already did. Because she did not.

He'd already got the pounds she snuck into his hand, she'd said her usual spiel of freaks, talked about her precious breed dogs, ate enough food, and now searching for something to wet her mouth. Remus was in a losing battle. Marge was not going to be convinced by the water or pink lemonade. Every year, she demanded to be invited to her nephew's birthday party. And every year, Dudley grew more confused on if she even enjoyed being here.

"Don't you think it would have been nice to invite a few boys from school this year?"

"It's fine Aunt Lily," he insisted. "We're going to different schools next year anyway. They wished me happy birthday at the end of term."

She frowned. "I'm just worried about you Dudley."

There it was, Lily finally said it outright. Dudley looked away, down to his wringing hands.

"You haven't invited any of the boys from school the last couple of years. The only one you invited wasn't allowed to come. Again," she sighed.

"He sent a gift," Dudley stated emphatically. He knew the boy wouldn't be allowed to come, that was the point. To not make his aunt worry. "Harry is the one who likes the bigger party, I can see them next month. I _like_ the zoo and afternoon picnic at the park."

And it was also all the less chances of any of the boys he was friendly with at school to hear what Aunt Marge would say. Then the point Uncle James finally having enough of her and launching a prank. Sure, Dudley secretly enjoyed seeing what James came up with, but trying to calm down and explain to any guests who noticed it was stressful. That the Potter family wasn't all of what his loud and complaining Aunt Marge said they were. Who was usually screaming at the top of her lungs and Uncle James and his friends at the time. Aunt Lily telling off her husband about not letting it go for the day.

All that for something none of the boys he invited would remember.

They remembered most the day. But Dudley remembered, knew how they reacted to finding out and it made trying to be friends difficult. So he only ever remained on friendly terms. How his cousin managed to still go all out playing with the kids in their class was a mystery to Dudley. He eyeballed his cousin. Harry didn't even look remotely worried.

Besides, Dudley really didn't want to celebrate his birthday this year.

"I still worry Dudley. Tuney and I were close when we were younger until I left for Hogwarts. She was awful jealous that I could go, that I'd discovered magic and—"

"I'm not jealous of Harry's magic," Dudley finally snapped. Then winced at seeing Aunt Lily's shocked face. He mumbled out an apology and hastily left for an empty picnic table.

He wasn't jealous. The blond was determined to never figure out the reason his mum always denoted Lily as a freak. Why his father boasted about how normal their family was compared, certainly not freaks. It wasn't a competition with his cousin on who was better. He didn't understand the reason Aunt Marge seemed to think they weren't good choices to take in Dudley and raise him. It wasn't like she did anything about her complaining of them and took him in. At least Aunt Lily, Harry, and Uncle James welcomed him with open arms to their household. Which always amazed Dudley. He remembered the little terror he'd been as a kid.

He wasn't jealous. Just…wanted to be left alone. Go without the celebration completely this year.

"Hey Dudley. Want the last burger?"

"Not really," he responded listlessly. "Did Aunt Lily send you over Remus?"

Dudley heard the chuckle. "No, I made my escape from whatever James and Sirius cooked up this year with Harry."

He turned to see Sirius trying to charm Aunt Marge with an animated smile and nudging her sights toward a smaller cooler Dudley was sure hadn't been there before. Lily was currently distracted in hissing at her husband, suspiciously eyeballing Sirius. It didn't seem as though she'd noticed the cooler yet. Harry was ducked behind Peter, trying to cover his snickers as he watched.

"Not going to watch this year?"

"No," he huffed.

"Okay," Remus agreed amiability. He hummed, helping himself to the burger. Dudley picked at the old picnic table, pulling off a splinter of wood. "That's cypress wood. It's considered wand of nobility for wizards. For the bold and self-sacrificing, I'm told. It means it's meant for a heroic death. I'm afraid I didn't agree on the wandmaker's assessment of informing I was bold. I'd think I'd know if I was or wasn't more than a man I met once."

Dudley put the splinter back onto the table, pushing it back and forth before leaving it next to the paper plate and half eaten burger. "You're bold enough. I'm not supposed to know this kind of stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" Remus took another bite and swallowed. "You mean the magical world? Why not?"

He slumped on the table, mumbling. "I'm eleven. And muggle. I'm supposed to belong in the muggle world."

Remus set his burger down. "Oh. I see. You don't feel like you are part of either. I kind of figured with the kind of questions you ask about my fluffy little problem becoming more frequent. And then there's that stunt Harry and you pulled."

"It's not a fluffy little problem," Dudley complained on what Uncle James referred to it by. Remus smiled. "It's not."

"I know. But it's nice to hear you defending my stance on it with James," he remarked. A bit embarrassed, he scratched the side of his face and glanced away from Remus's pleased face. "It's not a problem to be swept to the side like it doesn't matter. Just like yours shouldn't be either Dudley."

"But what do I do," Dudley whined. "I can be friendly, but I can never tell anyone about this kind of stuff next year at school. Harry won't be there. We'd have to owl and it won't be the same. I can't _really_ talk to anyone. Not really talk. Anyone who I could talk to my age are going to a whole other school than me, for classes I can't take and won't be able to really talk to them either."

Remus hummed thoughtfully. "I could point out I found others who accepted me as both wizard and werewolf, assuring you you'll find people to belong with too, but that's a false confidence. I'm afraid I can't tell the future. It would come in handy and be a great relief at times like this. Or when I was your age, stressed over anyone at school finding out or hurting someone by accident because I was there. It would have been quite a relief to know James, Sirius, Peter, and then Lily would become who they were to me."

Dudley picked at the loose splinter again.

"I'm sorry. The most I can tell you is to try not to clam up so much. Let yourself remain on good terms with a few classmates. It's not good to segregate yourself. And it'll get Lily off your back too. It takes a while to feel like you belong somewhere or with someone. There are times I still don't feel like I do. It's normal to feel like that every now and again. Don't let how your cousin can dive right into things like James and Sirius throw you," Remus advised. "Harry isn't confident at all about starting Hogwarts soon."

"What?" He jerked his head up startled. "But he's always talking to me about all the things he'll do there. And asking Uncle James and Aunt Lily and the rest of you about how long the train ride is, how many compartments does it have, how many kids will be starting first year, how will the sorting go, all sorts of stuff."

Remus chuckled. "He's asking because he's worried there will be so many compartments on the train that no one has to sit with him. That there'll be no one to sit at a compartment together. Harry's only asked questions and stories about Hogwarts to us. You're the only one he's talked to about with what he wants to do there."

The older man went quite with an encouraging smile before finishing his burger.

"Just me," Dudley asked timidly. Remus nodded.

"Harry isn't complicated Dudley. For him it's as easy as you are cousins. That's Dudley, he'll say, my cousin. He's friendly, but in his first year of school, before you joined the cottage, he was the one complaining he had no friends," Remus informed Dudley.

"I don't think I've ever heard him introduce any of the kids at school as a friend. But he hasn't complained about it since. He's had you just as you've had him until now. Give him a few months into the school year. Harry will start complaining then. He's more optimistic than you and I are."

The blond blinked, stunned. Dudley stared with wide blue eyes at Remus. Harry hadn't? Had his cousin ever called someone a friend? Well, no, now that Dudley thought about it, but… It was Harry. He was friends with just about everyone. He didn't think Harry was worried too. He never looked it. Not the way Dudley did. His cousin never said anything, he'd just drag them off on some adventure or trouble with a huge grin on his face.

"It's normal to feel like you don't belong," Remus assured Dudley. "Everyone does. Some people just manage to look like it better. Oh bloody hell, what did they do?"

Dudley jerked around in his seat to see what Remus got up for. The man hurried across the distance, pulling out his wand. While Aunt Lily was telling off Uncle James and Sirius rolling around on the ground, Remus went to work in waving his wand. The tiny brown paws disappeared from Aunt Marge's hands. Another wave sent the snout and ears away. The last one got rid of the shaggy tail.

And then she barked.

Dudley slapped a hand over his mouth.

James and Sirius roared with laughter, Peter squeaking in his amusement beside them. Remus spun. "Really? This is the woman you choose to turn to the way of dogs Sirius?"

Sirius howled. "Oh, she's already part dog! But I'm afraid this one is an inbreed bitch!"

Aunt Marge barked and yapped right back at Sirius, her face turning an awful red color. This…Dudley watched with wide eyes. This was magnificent.

"Dudley! Dudley," his cousin called out. "You've got to come over and see this!"

The blond ran across the uneven terrain as quickly as he could, quite eager, to get a closer look at this year's prank his uncle finally pulled on her. He grinned a bit at Harry.

Unlike classmates he didn't invite the past couple of years, he fully delighted in magic around his Aunt Marge. Aunt Lily said she was the kind of person who enjoyed feeling happy and important. By making others feel the opposite, James added. She told off her husband, but never disagreed with it. Dudley thought his uncle may have a point about his dad's sister. She wasn't necessarily pleasant. But she did insist on coming and giving him his present of money every year for him. Which was something in her favor.

Still, Dudley still loved this moments. The best part of it was the same reason he disliked this magic trick with classmates. Aunt Marge was obliviated afterwards. Unlike discovering friendly classmates who screamed in fear and sometimes hate at finding out, Dudley already knew Marge hated magic and called it freakish.

And Aunt Lily fretting over what silly thing Uncle James did this time was good. It was normal. Which was weird to feel relief in when nothing with the Potter family was normal.

Harry nudged him with a wide grin. "A smile! Me, Dad, and Sirius got a smile out of you." With a quick glance to his mum, Harry dropped his voice lower. "Hey, your birthday's not over yet. And you've got extra time because of me Dud. I talked to Sirius and he says 'my blood, my birthday'."

Dudley glanced over to the older man, frowning. Sirius was probably more optimistic than Harry, always saying the top excitable answer without any basis in fact. But he supposed this was why his cousin didn't at all look concerned today. It was something Sirius more than likely made up under pressure of Harry's face staring up at him. The most common excuse when Sirius was called out by Aunt Lily for lying to Harry or Dudley.

" _He_ overheard Dad and Mum talking about what Albus told them. Something shifted. Then some things about assuring them over the intent and we were completely fine." Harry waved that part off like it didn't matter, his face lighting up as he leaned closer. "Something shifted. My blood did something. Just wait until we get our letters later this summer, it'll happen, I know it."

"What if," Dudley said quietly. "It didn't shift enough?"

Something flashed across his cousin's face at the idea.

"Of course it did," Harry insisted with a defiant face.

The blond studied his feet, feeling warmth in his chest. Anything Harry had said over not caring if Dudley had any magic was half a lie and half the truth. His cousin apparently had cared. It wasn't just leaping in with the crazy idea on only helping out a cousin. Remus had been right in his observation. Harry was worried after all.

His cousin may not be fretting over him like Aunt Lily was earlier, but it was good seeing Harry looking a little scared at the idea of them not together.

That they belonged together.

It still might not be helpful to Dudley on where he fit in with anyone else than family and the few close friends to the family. But still. It was nice seeing that today.

Harry gave a lopsided smile suddenly, eyes sparking mischievously. "Want to go bark at your aunt before Dad oblivates her?"

* * *

 Author's Note: Hmmm. I wonder how far and what direction this 'What If' will go in. Maybe I should start planning rather than exploring the idea. Hmmm. 


	4. Chapter 4

Listlessly, blue eyes stared up at the stain glass windows. Dudley flopped back and rolled so all he saw was the wood of the pew. Looking wasn't doing him any good. He could practically see the pages from the snitched book he'd been reading earlier. Not that _The Standard Book of Spells_ was proving useful. "The Mending Charm will repair broken objects with a flick of the wand. Accidents do happen, so it is essential to know how to mend our errors."

His cousin had managed to do magic by accident. No spell needed.

Dudley groaned and rolled around in the pew, staring down at the vase pieces spread on the worn carpet below him. Was it because Peter was the one who broke it? He immediately cast that idea out of his head, feeling worse. Both the book and life at the Potter cottage spoke against that. It shouldn't matter that it wasn't his error he was attempting to mend.

He just wasn't magical.

"Oh, Dudley, you live with your aunt and uncle," he mocked. "What do they do for a living? Where's your cousin go to school? Why don't you go to school with him? Oh, Dudley, can we visit your place? We can play some video games. Ha. You're just some muggle, what do you know about magic? You should be oblivated. Oh, your family is magical? Where's your wand then? Why aren't you in school? Freak!"

Bang!

"Ow!" Dudley shook his hand out, checking his knuckles from punching the pew like that. Tears welled up from the physical pain. Definitely not from failing to produce magic. He was stuck knowing about it, but not able to actually be part of it, much less be able to tell any other muggle.

Harry would go to his school and Dudley would go to his. Uncle James would joke to make him feel better, probably invite over his friends to help, which would just make it bigger and worse. The blond sniffed, swiping at his face. And Aunt Lily would assure him it would be fine.

She was always so nice too, trying to make sure he was okay and treating him like he mattered just as much as Harry. Aunt Lily would understand if Dudley got mad, but he hated himself whenever he lost his cool around her. His uncle used to—

The blond froze, blue eyes flying open wide. Rolling and scrambling, he twisted to land on the worn blue carpet. He barely noticed the slight protest of his left leg as he crawled over to stare. Trembling, he touched it and cried. It was real. It was beautiful. It was solid and real and beautiful as it ever could be. It was all one piece.

Magic.

How? He shot up off the floor and didn't see anyone else. Dumbfounded, a tenuous smile cracked through.

Dudley quickly kneeled back down to place the vase into the box. Who knew how long it might last? He had to show Aunt Lily! Before it could disappear. It was real! And Harry had to see! It worked! It worked! It worked!

A misty rain hit Dudley's face as he left St. Jerome's Church. He panicked. He wanted to hurry, but he didn't want to drop the vase and break it again. Walking was too slow, but there were slippery puddles along the way back. Darting and flitting across the way, Dudley made the crooked mess of a way to the cottage as quickly as he dared, double and triple checking on his prize.

Uncle James was just removing his traveling cloak from beside the fireplace as Dudley dashed in. Startled, he grinned. "Hey! What's the hurry? It's always Harry being told off for running around inside. Don't worry," he lowered his voice and leaned in conspiratively. "I won't tell Lily. What do you got there?"

Breathing hard from elation, Dudley opened the box to show it off.

"Oh." His uncle's shoulders slumped in disappointment. "I was kind of hoping you found some creature for a pet. Not that vase Malfoy's gave to the Ministry that Lily liked. Peter's a clutz, he's just going to break it again. By accident. I'm not going to—that's some really good glue. It practically looks…like new…"

Finding his air now with hazel eyes widening at him, Dudley frantically shook his head, his own blue eyes bright. "I fixed it."

"You fixed it," James repeated slowly. He lifted his head up and bellered. "LILY!"

The door from the lower level containing the lab slammed open, Aunt Lily hurrying with her wand raised. When she only saw her husband and Dudley, the wand lowered and she scowled over at James.

"What do you mean hollerin—"

"I fixed it Aunt Lily," Dudley interrupted excitedly. He held the box out. "Look! I fixed the vase for you!"

Footsteps pounded from upstairs.

She frowned, heading over to take the box. "That's nice, but…oh. I see." His aunt looked over to him and gave a strained smiled. Her green eyes flickered behind Dudley to James, then back to him. "That's great Dudley."

"Do you want it back on the large desk in the library? It's raining now, but I can go find some flowers later for it. Isn't this great? I fixed it Aunt Lily!"

His cousin bounced into the room like a rabbit, black hair everywhere as he ran up to squeeze the air back out of Dudley. Harry screamed.

"You fixed Mum's vase! Yes! Worth it! You get to come with me to Hogwarts Dud! I told you not to worry, it worked! Can we owl Albus and tell him?" Harry spun them both around, arms still latched firmly about Dudley. "Please? Sirius said Albus said that something shifted and Albus came all the way here to see us last month. And Sirius too! Can we owl him about it? And Remus and Peter?"

"How about," Lily spoke up seriously. Harry straightened and Dudley twisted his head around to see his aunt better. She smiled at him briefly before continuing. "We owl Albus to check the two of you out? Contain our excitement about it a little? We'll discuss what we'll say to anyone else about this, okay?"

Dudley's heart dropped. Aunt Lily didn't appear as if this news was great at all, for all she smiled at him. It was like Harry said, their blood was close enough. All it did was give his own blood a nudge. Helped get his own magic to show itself. What was terrible about giving him a nudge?

To only owl Albus, when the older man had such focused eyes for all of his calm?

"Is it bad," he asked hoarsely.

Aunt Lily's green eyes flew wide. "No, this is not bad Dudley. You're not in trouble. I'm just concerned over what this might mean. No one has done something like this before. It doesn't mean it's bad, it just means its new territory and we should keep an eye on any developments. Like this rather good one today. Thank you for fixing my vase."

Worry spreading into his thoughts, Dudley smiled back at Lily. "Can I go put the vase in the library now," he asked softly.

"Me too," Harry chimed in. "We'll put it up so it won't be broken again Mum! Let's go Dudley!"

Grabbing the box and Dudley's hand, Harry pulled them away towards the library. The box containing the vase was plunked onto the table and his cousin immediately dug through the desk. "Bad. I could hear you cheering from upstairs Dud. You, cheering? And that loudly? Ah-ha!" Harry waved the Polaroid camera with a mad grin. "You're a wizard Dudley."

The words spoken out loud filled his chest with warmth. Dazed at it being true, the blond stared at his cousin's beaming face, a little giggle tittering out. "I'm a wizard. Harry…I'm a wizard. I…I did magic."

"That's right you did!" Harry snapped a picture, snickering. "You should see your face! Like you can't believe it. With a cousin like me and fixing a vase without glue, of course you're a wizard. So you know what you have to do now that you know you're a wizard?"

Cautious, Dudley asked, positive he'd want to do it once it was said but not sure if he wanted to know it quite yet when it was all so fresh. "What?"

Green eyes sparkled in giddiness. "Ride a broom."

Blue eyes perked up, filled in delight. "I can? I can!"

"Let's go, follow me upstairs. Mum's probably still talking with Dad and writing a letter to Albus." Harry led them through the hallway, Dudley poking impatiently at his cousin's back when Harry slowed. Harry tapped at his mouth with a finger and Dudley rolled his eyes. If his cousin wanted, he could run through the cottage on top speeds undetected. Well, Dudley amended in his head as he peeked to check on his aunt. As long as Harry's mum was distracted.

Before too long, Dudley and his cousin found themselves in front of Uncle James's broom locker. Inside, three brooms were propped up. The polished one was his uncle's broom. James kept very good care of his broom, he was a great flyer and loved the sport. Meanwhile, the one with not a twig out of place was Lily's own broom. She rode, but not often as she wasn't as big of a fan as her enthusiastic husband. The last one was built simple, not fancy. The one that didn't travel higher than a couple of feet. This was the one Harry pulled out and handed Dudley.

Dudley eagerly swung his leg over Harry's childproofed broom. "Any tips?"

"Er…don't crash," Harry supplied unhelpfully. "Mum'll ground us if she finds out."

He snorted. "Like that stops you or your dad." His cousin grinned cheekily. "Good thing I've watched and ridden with Uncle James enough times to know what to do."

Releasing a breath of air, Dudley griped tight to the handle and pushed off the ground toward his aunt and uncle's bed. There was a sudden lurch.

But no crash.

Dudley felt weightless. The whole room was spread out before him. Like he could go anywhere, do anything.

Not wanting to jinx it, he tilted the handle to the side and slowly rotated from where he hovered about the bed. His body leaned a bit too far to the right and Dudley adjusted. The blond only stopped turning when he saw his cousin. Harry wildly waved his hands about his head in silent celebration. A double thumbs up followed.

Dudley whooped loudly.

* * *

Author's Note: I debated over Dudley actually going wizard, to have Harry's idea fail. Simply for it'd be more difficult for Dudley and Harry if it failed. Either way, Dudley isn't going to feel like he fits in. The events I picture in this direction spoke to me a little louder though. As a result...Harry's idea worked. Harry's idea worked. What does this mean besides the obvious glee of Dudley's own magic waking? 


	5. Chapter 5

It was little wonder Augusta sent back a negative response. He watched as the first thing his uncle and cousin did after Gringotts was immediately disappearing into the Broom Shop. Well, Harry dragged Dudley inside actually. But the sentiment remained despite any interest the blond had himself for potentially owning one of these someday. First years were not allowed brooms.

Aunt Lily was already regretting this outing before she gave the go ahead after their month grounding was over. The only reprieve Dudley and his cousin had during the grounding was in Harry's birthday party. The invitations had already been sent. And Harry and his dad already took full advantage of that one. Uncle James thought the reason for grounding was to be celebrated. Aunt Lily disagreed. Loudly.

Fastest way to have a grounding undermined was to pick one of the few rules James didn't see as important. Flying ranked high up on the list. Not to mention it was Dudley's first solo fly.

Aunt Lily stated after years of seeing his uncle and cousin, who'd grabbed his mum's broom to join him up in the air, Dudley ought to know better. And he did. He knew flying in the cottage wasn't allowed. And he really wanted to feel terrible at causing Lily distress. He did. But he was far too exhilarated at the time to feel the disappointment radiating off of his aunt.

He reached over to his shirt pocket, blue eyes checking that the folded bit of parchment was still there. The blond smiled a little. The letter and list of supplies were like a badge of proof. Albus's unusual fascination as he personally dropped by Godric's Hollow to deliver it was worth it. Even if Dudley was left trying to assess the remarks Albus made for the following weeks. The greatest magic of all? He certainly wasn't referring to some broken vase. Not with that tone of affection as his eyes watered in looking at him and his cousin.

Harry was easily quelled when Albus gave his calm assurances, but Dudley felt more anxious at that sort of attention. The man hadn't run a school and aided efforts against two dark lords for nothing.

At least those were the only visits like that so far this year. Which was saying something. Uncle James and Sirius were the usual receivers of focused, not twinkling, blue eyes. Visits from Albus were typically far more enjoyable and funny. Multiple visits on school weekends last year had Dudley and Harry assisting Albus on how correct of a map his scar was to the London Underground. The answer? Very.

And very likely the reason Albus found his newest favorite article of clothing. Exploring outside the station led to Harry spotting the small shop display. Who pointed it out to Dudley as Albus eyed a local sweet shop with interest. They'd bought it with the allowance money they came with, figuring they usually just spent it on chocolates or interesting looking trinkets. Then gave the Hawaiian shirt as a joint Christmas gift.

To say it'd gone over well was an understatement. Albus already loved his colorful array of robes he owned. This was about as much of a muggle equivalent Dudley had ever seen.

He'd worn it on each visit this summer. Even after Uncle James spewed out his drink onto it in a fit of laughter during their summer movie of _Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves_. It hadn't been that funny. But Albus said the stain added character and a great story. Even with the assurance, Dudley and Harry had bought another. Who cared if it was a repeat Christmas gift? Albus loved that Hawaiian shirt.

"Wotcher Dudley."

The blond jumped back, knocking down a row of Comets. From far too close to him, Nymphadora Tonks stumbled over one of the brooms and onto her rear. Dark eyes blinked in surprise. She quickly laughed though. "Prove me wrong from thinking I managed not to be clumsy for once. Pity I can't test on you for stealth, help me up will you?"

He hurried to offer her a hand up. The shopkeeper was already there, frazzled and demanding she leave the store at once. She whined, "You can't still be upset about what happened six years ago. I was twelve."

The man's round face puffed up and turned red. "Out." He pointed. "Out."

"What happened when you were twelve?" Uncle James's hazel eyes sparked in a gleeful interest as the shopkeeper swatted away any helpful hands. The man glared, clearly not trusting any of them. As a kid, Dudley knew the look. But despite any jokes or pranks James loved, he doubted his uncle had done anything to deserve that kind of look in the Broom Shop. And it was kind of impressive he remembered Nymphadora well enough to give her that kind of look.

"I only stepped on a couple Comets."

"Ha. You and that older Weasley boy destroyed the display, knocked down nearly every broom in the store, and made two Comets and three Cleansweeps unsellable!"

"We bought them, I don't see what the problem is. My Comet 260 works just fine. Bill managed just fine on that Cleansweep Six. And Charlie was considered professionally off of his Comet. The real problem I see here is how you bullied Arthur and Molly to buy the Cleansweep Fives if they really were unsellable. That and your insistence for rickety display methods," she added after a pause. "You should probably fix that."

Impossibly, the shopkeeper's face turned even redder. Beside Dudley, Harry sniggered. "Good to see you…Nymphadora."

Bubble gum pink hair spazzed into a neon shade of red. "Don't call me that!"

"But your hair changes colors when I do," Harry pointed out as though that disputed any dislike of her own first name. She scowled.

"Good point."

Besides no longer looking twelve, there was the bigger reason the shopkeeper should have had a harder time recognizing her. She was a Metamorphmagus after all. A witch with the ability to change her appearance.

Hesitantly, Dudley spoke up. "Uncle James? Can we go get our school supplies now?"

"What?" His uncle jerked his attention away from the shopkeeper swatting another attempt to help pick up the brooms. "Yes. Of course. The new Nimbus looks good Kamil."

"What's this I hear? Our school supplies?" Her thick boots clomped along beside them, dark eyes shining excitedly at Dudley. He ducked his head down and glanced away. The shopkeeper, Kamil, watched Nymphadora Tonks's exit closely. "No one told me you were heading off to Hogwarts too. I bet Dad's pleased. And Lily. Sirius is a given."

His cousin speed up, hopping in front of him on the paved stone road. "Yep! We're both looking for school supplies today in Diagon Alley. What are you doing here today?"

The blond frowned as she answered Harry. That was an odd group of people to be pleased at the news. Why would she say those three? Sirius was a given. Aunt Lily, yeah, okay, Dudley could see her being pleased past her worry on the situation. Albus had defused most of it in his last visit. Thankfully. But Ted Tonks?

"Why would your dad be pleased?"

She blinked, confused. "Why wouldn't he be pleased?"

"Oh yeah, Dudley's right," Harry pipped in. His face furrowed. "Ted can't do magic, he liked having another around like him that knew about it."

Uncle James burst into laughter at her eyes going wide in shock and hair flushing to a lighter shade of red. "And you want to be an Auror," he sniggered. "Can't even keep a secret from a pair of eleven year olds."

She spun, boot stomping. "How is this my fault James? This is all on Sirius! You mean none of you have told them yet?"

Baffled at what she meant, Dudley glanced back and forth between her and his uncle. His cousin bounded back to James. "Tell us what? What, what? Tell us what?"

Still laughing, Uncle James pointed over to Nymphadora. She huffed as both heads spun to her. "Dad's a Muggle-Born wizard. Sirius is an idiot from the Black family," she snorted. "I'm not awfully surprised Dad and Lily went along with it, but it just proves he was an idiot at the time. You two have heard a few stories on his family I reckon?"

Black hair flew at how quickly Harry bobbed his head in response. Dudley thought a bit on those stories, recalling how much Sirius's parents sort of but not really reminded him a little of his own parents. He frowned, biting his lip, not sure what that had to do with this on Ted Tonks. Well, maybe it did. Sirius's parents seemed to be the type very much for keeping it to wizards and witches only. Not that Sirius cared for that sort of thing. Andromeda, Ted's wife, was Sirius's favorite cousin. And Ted was a wizard.

The blond shuffled his feet and rubbed at his left leg.

It stung. All this time, Ted lied to him?

"For them, a Muggle-Born was as good as a muggle," she ground out. Almost spitting. Surprised at her easy going nature disappearing, Dudley shot his head back up to see Nymphadora's thunderous face. It cleared quickly with a short laugh. She grinned at Dudley. "The idiot excitedly introduced the pair of you believing that. Dad prefers doing things by hand, like the dishes, because it gives him time to think and mull things over. So Sirius never thought otherwise of Dad because of it. Stunned Mum and I. All those years that idiot really believed Dad was a muggle. Then again, it's ridiculous that Dad never cast any spells around Sirius in all that time."

Harry let out a snort and cracked up. This was all because of Sirius then? A misunderstanding? Ted didn't lie to him? But still, Dudley felt the sharp sting.

"Why didn't he tell me?"

"Oh! I'm sorry Dudley." She leaned down and touched his shoulder briefly. "Dad didn't mean anything by it. Sirius convinced him and Lily to keep the lie for you. He thought you'd like having someone around to talk about on being around magic, in case you didn't get any. Well, besides your aunt with her being Muggle-Born herself. There's not many people around like you kiddo. Before I mean. The only one all of those adults could think of was Remus's mother."

The blond winced. Dudley knew she wasn't around anymore. "Oh."

"Yeah. So when I said they'd be pleased, I meant with not letting you believe what the idiot believed back then. I didn't mean to make you feel awful. You should be excited on a day like today, going shopping for things to bring to Hogwarts. Like that wand," she emphasized excitedly with a wink. "By the way, what's with the lateness to getting your supplies anyway?"

He half shrugged and fingered the letter in his pocket again. It still didn't feel quite real to say he'd been grounded. Not the grounding part, but why he'd been grounded. Like he was a fake somehow. Dudley had been declared a wizard, but it didn't feel that way yet. Guess he couldn't be too mad about lies right now. He was one at this point.

"Harry get you into trouble again," she joked.

Dudley nodded, figuring that was one way to put it.

"All right quiet man, don't hold it too much against my dad. Say hello to your aunt for me." She held a finger up to her lips and ducked into a side alley. And immediately tripped over a line of raised stones marking the division.

A wide grin on his face, James swung over to watch her scramble back up. Dudley speed up to follow Harry dashing over to look. "Forget to say goodbye? Good luck on that Auror test Nymphadora."

"Don't call me that!"

"But your whole head looks like a mohawked tomato," Harry pointed out with his own grin. Dudley nodded. It really did.

Although, if Nymphadora actually did pass her test, Dudley knew Augusta would quickly put her in the same category as Uncle James and Sirius. The Aurors on the do not hire list for when she needed and desired their services. She was one strict grandmother even when they visited. The two were allowed once, reluctantly. And never invited on the premises ever again. Or her grandson purposely allowed near them. Therefore, he became Dudley's only birthday invite.

Dudley would never say out loud that he thought she had a point. The blond sighed as he spotted his uncle buying an ice cream, shouting back to ask what Harry and he wanted. Never one to pass up chocolate, Dudley quickly answered. Eating was a good idea. After all, this shopping day could be a while with James in charge.

* * *

Author's Note: Wow. I...I'm just playing around with this. Honest. But 13 kudos, thank you, my favorite number. And 3 bookmarks, a few comments? I'm just playing around. In fact, I corrected an earlier error pointed out by another person in this one. Both Sirius and I are idiots thank-you-very-much. Forgive us. 


	6. Chapter 6

The blond swallowed, tapping at the letter in his shirt pocket for reassurance, apprehensive at what lay before him. The building didn't appear like much. It was narrow and shabby, thin golden letters worn to the point of becoming close to unreadable. Ollivanders. A single wand lay displayed in the dusty window.

Dudley stumbled in after his cousin and uncle, a tingly bell announcing their presence. Blue eyes blinked in surprise at the inside. The only light shone through the dusty display window at the bottom of the shop. Dusty and silent, the shelves went up high, blending into the dim. It felt as though he had just entered a library from ages ago. But instead of ancient and mysterious tomes, thousands of boxes lay piled up the shelved walls. Each promised its own type of mystery inside. And an answer Dudley dreaded.

The leftover space was tiny, not giving much room to move about. There was a single chair. None of them took it. Harry was too excitable, head spinning every which way after seeing no one by the register. Uncle James was a bit more subdued than his son, chuckling at Harry and then looking back to give Dudley a reassuring smile. It didn't do much.

"Come check it out Dudley," Harry called out suddenly. Startled, he turned his head to see what his cousin was pointing at and glanced back to the register before heading over to see. Harry's voice lowered, whispering and full of enthusiasm. "Look at all the different kinds of woods and cores and lengths. This one says it's a color. Ebony. Or is there such a thing as tree named after black…"

Dudley nodded. Before he could speak up, Harry was already trying to pry the lid up far enough to take a peek inside without removing it from the shelf. His cousin was using him as a shield. Curious at what might happen around a wand not already belonging to someone else, Dudley shuffled to cover more of Harry from James.

This was it. A wand. Would a wand even choose him? Or would the wands sense something different about him? That he wasn't supposed to be here and didn't belong?

"Good afternoon," said a soft voice.

Harry and Dudley jumped, both set of hands shoving the lid back onto the ebony wand box and spinning around. Uncle James snorted, laughing at them. But Dudley and his cousin's attention were focused on someone else.

An old man with eyes like the pale moon stood at the back of the shop. Where did he come from? Dudley shifted, trying to spot any door. "Hello," Harry said awkwardly. Glancing over at his cousin, Dudley frowned at the fidgeting, until he realized Harry was doing it only to wipe off his dusty fingers. Continuing the charade, Harry clumsily stepped forward. "I'm looking for a wand, my first wand and—"

"Ah yes. Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon Harry Potter."

Startled, Harry's head sprang up to stare at the old man. Dudley took a look back at his uncle. James was giving the man an unamused look, shaking his head. That was odd. Dudley looked back to the unknown man roving closer to his cousin. The old man hadn't even looked at Uncle James.

"How'd you know—"

"You have your mother's eyes. Seems only yesterday she was in here herself buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work. Your father on the other hand favored a mahogany wand, eleven inches, pliable, little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favored it. It's really the wand that chooses the wizard of course."

"Hello Ollivander," James spoke up. Even in his voice, Dudley could tell his uncle regretted doing that.

The silvery eyes slid across the small area, finding Uncle James. "Ah yes. James Potter. How is the mahogany wand serving you in all this time? I always found it to be a strange one to find itself in a young child's hands due to—"

"It serves me just fine," James cut in tersely. "We're here to find my son and nephew's wands today, no theatrics needed."

"Fascinating," the old man commented airily. His gaze fell onto Dudley. The blond ducked behind Harry at the sight of those wide eyes shining at him. "I didn't think I'd be seeing you in here. Seems like just yesterday your mother was in here as well. She had quite a smug attitude at each wand that didn't choose Lily Evans. Yes, yes. It allowed me to see willow was the option for her. It was unwarranted, that insecurity."

Blue eyes went wide.

"Much like yours," Ollivander mused to himself. His eyes fixated solidly back to Harry, who stood, bristling, in front of Dudley. "Well now Mister Potter, let me see."

"Huh?" Harry inched back into Dudley. "See what?"

Ollivander pulled out a tape measurer with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"

"Er. My right arm I guess? I'm right handed."

"Hold out your arm."

Dudley watched carefully as Ollivander measured from shoulder to finger, wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit, and around his cousin's head. "Every Ollivander wand has a core of powerful magic substance Mister Potter. And Mister…?"

"Dursley," Dudley answered cautiously. The old man continued his spiel without acknowledging the response.

"We use unicorns hair, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same. Just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. Arm Mister Dursley."

Dudley went wide eyed at realizing the tape measurer moved on its own. It went from Harry's face to flying over to measure the length of Dudley's arm. Blue and green eyes met each other. Oblivious, Ollivander moved along the shelves. "And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand. That will do."

And the tape measurer, which had been measuring between Dudley's nostrils, fell into a heap on the floor. He rubbed his nose, staring at it near his feet. It didn't move. What was the point of all those weird measurements?

"All right Mister Potter. Try this one. Beech wood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches, nice and flexible. Mister Dursley, here you are. Sycamore wood and unicorn hair. Ten inches, stretchy. Just take it and give it a wave." Wide iridescent eyes shone impatiently at them.

Harry stood, staring unsure at Ollivander, holding the offered wand. Giving his cousin a nervous look, Dudley took the other wand. Green eyes lit up and Harry grinned suddenly. He jabbed the wand through the air.

Ollivander snatched it away, putting another into Harry's hand. "Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches, quite whippy. Try. Mister Dursley, give it a wave already. No, no."

Both Dudley and Harry had wands pulled out of their hands. Realizing neither of them had done something with the wands, Dudley let out a small sigh of relief. This was normal. Normal. He touched his shirt pocket to hear the reassuring crinkle. "Mister Dursley, let's give this willow and unicorn one a try, Eleven and a half inches, durable."

He swallowed, staring steely eyed at the next wand. There were thousands here. Could it be possible?

"Here, ebony and unicorn hair. Eight and a half inches, springy, go on. Go on, try it out."

Then spruce and dogwood and red oak followed for Harry. A pear and cedar for Dudley. Ollivander appearing ecstatic and intrigued by a maple when Dudley said it felt warm, digging out more for him to try. One after another after another of wands were waved, jabbed, and swished. Ollivander appeared more and more excited as their piles of tried wands grew higher and higher rather than frustrated. Frustrated and feeling hopeless, Dudley eyed across the shelves of the shop. What if he never found a wand?

"Tricky customers, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere. I wonder now. Yes, why not. Unusual combination. Holly and phoenix feather. Eleven inches, nice and supple."

He took the wand and went wide eyed. This one felt warm too. Hopeful, Dudley gave it a wave. Green flickered from the tip. Uncle James cheered loudly from behind him.

"Woah! You did something with that one Dud! Let me see," Harry requested.

Stunned, Dudley lowered the wand and opened his hand so he and his cousin could get a better look. Harry leaned in close. "What'd you say this one was," he asked Ollivander. Harry picked it up from Dudley's palm and held it up to the man. "Holly and phoenix feather, right? Not mapl—Ack!"

The old man was quicker than he looked, side stepping where the wand was pointed. Red and green sparked from the wand, sending spots of light dancing on the walls.

A much bigger reaction than the flicker Dudley produced.

His whole heart sank.

No.

The wand knew somehow. That he was fake. Boosted magic through him only because of Harry. He wasn't going to find a wand. He wasn't going to find a wand. The wand knew he wasn't supposed to be here, letter or not. A knockoff.

Dudley staggered back.

Harry's head spun around, staring at the blond, green eyes wide in a panic. "Dudley! I—" His cousin broke off, breathing rapidly, face pale.

"Oh bravo, oh yes indeed. Very good. Well, well, how curious. How very curious. Curious. Curious."

"It's not curious," Harry shouted with a stamp of his foot. He glared up at Ollivander. "What's curious about it? That it doesn't know how to properly choose an owner?"

The old man bent at the waist, setting his pale stare straight into his cousin. Harry, not Dudley. His uncle's hands rested supportively on his shoulders, squeezing slightly. Numb, Dudley fell back into the comforting hold. "I remember every wand I've ever sold Mister Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand gave another feather. Just one other. It is very curious—"

"Ollivander," James snapped. His hands on Dudley's shoulders tightened painfully. "It's not from Fawkes, is it?"

"Fawkes?"

Dudley and Harry's voices echoed in dumbfounded unison. The core of this wand came from the phoenix that was partial to Albus? The one that trilled and flew to them during visits because they scratched it just so?

"It is indeed. Curious how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard remember. I think we must expect great things from you Mister Potter. After all, your wand's brother did great things. Terrible, yes, but great."

James's hold became so tight, that Dudley yanked himself away from his uncle. Stumbling because of his left foot, the blond straightened angrily, blue eyes watery. One of these wands had to choose him, right? He was a wizard. Even if how it happened was far more curious and strange than the wand Ollivander was speaking about. Dudley was still a wizard.

His heart shot back up and throbbed in his chest.

It wasn't Harry who fixed his mum's favorite vase. Dudley had flown a broom, it was amazing. And received a letter. He had to keep trying! Prove that he did belong!

Thrusting his hand into the discarded pile he hadn't tried, Dudley pulled out one and slashed it through the air. Warm, the wand pulsated in his hand. Glimmering green and blue arcs followed the path of his arm. Just as brilliant as the sparks Harry made before.

Dudley gripped the wand tight, mouth gapping wide.

His cousin hooted wildly, bouncing over with a mad grin. "Hey wand! You chose Dudley, remember that! There." Harry nodded, satisfied with his telling off. "Now that one knows better."

"The rowan with dragon heartstring?"

Ollivander's voice broke in, leaning close to study the wand and then to stare captivated at Dudley. His cousin puffed himself up in front of him. But the old man bent over anyway and the two inched close together.

"Interesting combination," the man ruminated. His round eyes peered unblinkingly at Dudley. "I cannot recall a single instance where one of my rowan wands has gone on to do evil in the world. No dark witch or wizard owned a rowan wand. However, your wand Mister Dursley was fitted with dragon heartstring and dragon tends to be easiest to turn to the Dark Arts. One just as likely to hide themselves as often as they would shield others and as often as they would lash out. While both perceptive and unsure, they are filled with a drive for the better. Eleven inches and resilient."

Uncle James let out a long sigh. "Ignore Ollivander. He does this to everyone. How much are the two wands?"

After paying fourteen gold gallons, his uncle directed both boys out of the shop and back into the sunlit alley. James rubbed at his arms. "I think I forgot just how much Ollivander creeped me out even when I was a kid. He's very…theatrical? Fanatical? Fascinated?"

"Unsettling," Dudley offered. Black hair bobbed beside the blond.

"Yes," both son and father agreed loudly. "Jinx!"

"Oh," Harry squealed. "I can actually jinx you now!"

James burst into laughter. "With what Harry?"

"My wand!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I stand corrected," James snickered. "How?"

Green eyes blinked. His face fell at realizing a wand did not equal being able to do the jinx.

The blond prodded his cousin's side, leaning over to whisper and grinning at how Harry's face suddenly lit up. Dashing out in front of his father, Harry smirked mischievously up through his bangs as he hopped along backwards. When Harry made for the other side of James, Dudley moved as well, two sets of feet sticking out.

"Trip jinx!" His cousin hollered gleefully. He grabbed Dudley's arm and dragged him down the paved road. "Come on Dudley!"

Somehow, Dudley wasn't surprised to find Harry pulling out a gallon from his pants pocket when they reached a shop that sold sweets. But today he finally found out how Harry brought his stash home. Dudley quickly copied Harry's example. He tied two sets of cloth bags up with strings by his knees. The left one gave Dudley a bit of a problem, but in the end, his bags of Chocolate Frogs stayed nicely under the baggy pant legs.

He touched the letter in his shirt pocket. Not even Ollivander's strange words and behavior ruined his uplifted mood on finding his own wand. The rest of the shopping day didn't seem nearly as scary anymore. Dudley's hand fell from the pocket and pointed across the alley. With matching grins, the two boys raced off again.

* * *

Author's Note: Like Dudley, I hold some apprehension. The all important wand. For both boys in this 'What If' story. 


	7. Chapter 7

For all it was impressive, Dudley had somehow thought the scarlet train would be bigger somehow. It had always seemed that way in his head. But now, seeing it with his own eyes, it sat as if on display at a museum. It didn't seem quite real and fitting to what today and it stood for. It stood for magic and learning and leaving the safety of the known. To meet more kids his age, possible friends, classmates, and roommates.

He clutched onto the trolley tighter, fingers slick with fear as he stared at the scarlet school train.

The houses. Harry and he had only a what, 2 out of 5 chance of being placed in the same house as roommates together. It was less than 50-50, Dudley knew that at least. Adding in the chances of the house possibilities of another boy only flustered him more. He dragged his feet, wiping off his left hand on his pants and fisting the fabric. And even then, they wouldn't be alone. What if the new roommates didn't like him? Realized he didn't fit in?

"You will not," Aunt Lily's decisive voice cut through his panic. The blond jerked his head over to see what set his aunt off. Given that James looked like a child caught at trying to sneak a sweet and Harry's wide eyed face pleading innocence, it didn't take much to figure what happened. "Do you hear me Harry?"

"Yes." Harry dragged the word out and then rolled his eyes. "I know when not to take Dad seriously Mum."

Uncle James looked betrayed, spinning around to stare at his son. Harry stared back. "I'm not arguing with her," he stated incredulously. "Mum's scarier than you are."

"B-b-but I'm the auror of the family," James sputtered out. Lily tilted her head up with a smug smile. Harry just stared at his dad. Uncle James shrugged, shooting a grin over to his wife. "It was worth trying."

"You will be treating all your professors with respect. Both of you. Dudley?" Aunt Lily's own green eyes beseeched him and he shifted awkwardly. He remembered all too well of her commenting on how he helped hold Harry back. And how she mentioned they should keep an eye out for each other at Hogwarts. She'd been looking at Dudley when she said that. Aunt Lily had that same look in her eye as then.

"Do all the houses share classes?"

The blond caught the realization flash across his aunt's face. "Sometimes."

"Thank Merlin they don't." At his wife's accusing glare, James backpedaled. "What? Can you imagine what it would have been like if Sirius had to share classes with his mum's favorite house all the time as a kid? Everyone in Slytherin was jumping to join the power on the opposite side of the war going on then."

"Or forced into it."

"Which likely wouldn't have been great for Sirius," James commented darkly. "The few shared classes wreaked havoc on him enough. Not to mention what Bella started up our first year to have the rest target him, then cornering hi—sorry. Sorry."

Uncle James rubbed at his temple, upset. Wide eyed, Dudley and his cousin stared up at the man. They shared understanding looks with each other though. It happened enough times in the past that they knew it was something bothering him from work. His uncle had been looking strained the past few days.

The man usually went out of his way to keep all his paperwork away from the cottage, steering them away whenever someone wanted to talk work with him, and insisting they enjoy being a kid and not worry about things like that. The worse ones Dudley would see the older man go through and stress over always led back to cases handled over the wizard war that ended a few years back. When Dudley and Harry were being potty trained. In a few months it would be ten years since the war ended.

"It's okay Dad. It's not like that now. Besides, Mum had a friend who was a Slytherin when she was in school," Harry added brightly. Dudley nodded slowly, mulling it over. Aunt Lily had been Gryffindor after all. And she had made it work. Harry and he would still be at the same school. It wouldn't be like Dudley would be completely alone even if they were in different houses.

"Your soon to be professor," Aunt Lily stated firmly as she rubbed Uncle James's back. "He's had enough troubles in life and I'll not take it well if I hear you've done so."

Dudley winced at that note.

He'd known even though his uncle didn't talk about the more serious fights at school, he had picked up enough to realize it'd been bad between the Gryffindors and Slytherins during the 70's and that war. How Uncle James spoke about the hated Malfoy family was sign enough. This sounded as though there was nothing spared for even Aunt Lily's childhood friend. But Albus hired the man as a professor, which meant his uncle had been wrong about this Slytherin in particular.

The blond looked to his cousin. Even Harry couldn't miss that connection. Sure enough, green eyes went wide. "Oh."

"If he causes any trouble for you because of what happened when he and I were kids, talk to Albus or tell me," Uncle James instructed them. His voice didn't allow for any question. Them emphasized, "Better yet, your mum."

"Yeah, yeah. We will," Harry answered distractedly. He nudged Dudley, grinning as he pointed across the station. "Vulture at 11 o'clock."

The blond spun his head, searching wildly for a moment and then grinned himself at the sight of Augusta striding purposely through the crowd. Two aurors hurried to follow her. The woman raised her chin in acknowledgment when their eyes met and Dudley nodded back. Then his blue eyes sought out another beside her. Sure enough, in a gap in the crowd, he spotted Neville huffing as he tried keeping up with his grandmother's pace. The round faced boy stumbled a little as he spotted them. Neville hastened his pace, eyes brighter.

"Hello Augusta," Aunt Lily greeted the older woman warmly. "Sorry it didn't work out for the boys to visit each other this summer."

Augusta's gaze traveled from his uncle to his cousin. "Understandable," she drawled. Then her sight fell onto Dudley. "Dudley."

"Augusta."

"A congratulations are in order young man. Hogwarts is earning a good one with you this year." Dudley spotted Neville shuffling uncomfortably besides his grandmother. He offered a shrug to the other boy. "A very good one. Whatever house you are sorted in will be all the better for it. I can only hope the same for Neville. Do be careful with Frank's wand."

Neville jolted and slid the wand back away. Dudley bit his lip. He always got so meek around his commandeering grandmother. The older woman often spoke of her son, almost sounding disappointed in not seeing Neville doing something his father would have done, like she was looking for a piece of Frank in Neville. Dudley thought although Neville's parents didn't have the stories he had of his, that not living up to the image of your parents was fine. He'd told Neville as much. Harry would always agree loudly and then try to talk both of them into doing something interesting.

"It is unusual to show signs of accidental magic so late," Augusta continued on. "Neville here was a late bloomer. Perhaps not as late, but I find myself glad you will be attending school with my grandson. Both you and Harry. Why don't you three find yourselves a compartment together?"

Her eyes switched attention to Aunt Lily, moving on without listening for an answer. It hadn't been a suggestion. Harry's eyes lit up and he rushed away, looking back the whole time with an excited grin as he called back at Dudley and Neville.

"Somehow, I don't think we're going to lose track of him today," Dudley commented. Neville huffed in amusement. "Your summer went okay stuck with your grandmother? Do you really have you're dad's old wand?"

The boy shrugged his shoulders, then nodded as he stopped to pull the wand back out to show Dudley. The wand looked to be in better condition than expected, polished to a shine. It wasn't new, not with the slight indents along where a person would grip it for spellwork, putting Neville's hand to the larger one of his father's hand. It didn't fit right in the other boy's hand. Dudley frowned.

"She does know you're not him. Didn't you say anything?"

Neville's face puckered, grip tightening on the wand which set off a faint pinprick of light at the action. The round face went slack in surprise and Neville hastened to put the wand back, turning back with an apologetic look to Dudley.

"Come on Dudley! Hurry up! The last compartment's open, come on!"

Dudley quickly grabbed the cage from his trolley before his cousin did. Apparently, Harry had already gotten his luggage up somehow and decided to help them. Green eyes rolled at the blond, but quickly turned mischievous as he grabbed Neville's trolley instead. With a squawk, Neville tried to grab his toad before it went flying off, but Harry cracked into laughter as he dodged and made it away.

Aghast, he and Neville shared horrified looks with each other after seeing where Trevor the toad landed. The red headed boy was shrieking and his mother was verbally berating another red headed boy who appeared older, and very much amused at what just happened to his younger brother. Then another one, who was identical to the one being berated, strode over and plucked Trevor up. Harry bounced up beside them, accepting the toad into his hands.

"Thanks," he chirruped. "Sorry. He just hopped right off!"

Dudley stared.

"We're going to finish helping," started one of the twins. Both began slinking backward with their hands on Harry's shoulders, smiles not dimming at the look their mother was giving them.

"Getting all his luggage onto the train."

And before the blond knew it, the twins were rolling his trolley off and away. Grinning broadly, Harry handed Trevor over to Neville. Well, this answered how his cousin got his own luggage on so quickly. Harry certainly had a knack Dudley didn't have with other kids. His cousin would be fine at Hogwarts. Mostly anyway.

"Hopped? Really Harry?"

Perking up, Harry was all teeth and full of glee. "Serious as Sirius!"

"Who isn't at all," Dudley pointed out. Neville nodded fiercely beside him in agreement.

"I know! I can't wait to get there!"

"Can't wait to see where the likes of you get sorted," spoke up one of the twins.

The other one came up behind the first. "Oye, the little firstie is nearly as loud as us. Very bold. Gryffindor."

"Have fun wrestling the troll at the sorting," the first one chimed in.

Neville whimpered from beside Dudley. "They're joking," the blond told him. "It's a XXXX creature. No adult would have us fight a creature that you have to be trained to handle."

The red headed twins pouted in disappointment as Neville sighed in relief.

"No fun."

"Smarter than ickle Ronniekins."

"Ravenclaw," they said at once. The pair gave a salute, quickly returning back to their family. "See you Harry!"

Harry turned back to Dudley with a wide smile. "That's Fred and George Weasley. And yes, their dad is Arthur that Sirius works with at the Ministry for that secret side project." Dark eyebrows wiggled. "Think they know anything about it?"

Wide eyed, Neville shook his head and looked to Dudley. The blond boy only sighed, staring at the scarlet train again.

"What's wrong Dud? Come on, today's the day we get to go to Hogwarts!"

The blond bit at his lip, then carefully said, "Aunt Lily said houses sometimes share classes."

"So," Harry shot in. Obstinate, he declared, "We're going to be in the same house. We're family. Probably Gryffindor like Mum and Dad were. And Albus. Sirius, Remus, and Peter too."

His cousin's confidence wasn't really catching and he didn't have the heart to try to get a real answer out of Harry. Dudley went back to stare at the train. Things would get set in motion once they got aboard. Not just because the train was moving, but it was the start of so much new things and change. Changes he expected, which made him somewhat nervous. And changes he couldn't predict, which had his nerves frayed.

"Try to do me proud Neville."

Yelping in surprise, all three boys spun to see Augusta there. Lily and James stood just behind the formidable woman. Gulping at air, Neville nodded breathlessly.

"Good. Get on the train. Quickly, before it leaves without you."

With a jaunty wave back, Harry made to follow. Dudley managed to snag his cousin before he disappeared inside the compartment after Neville though. The cage in his other hand bounced against the back of his left leg with a thunk. Ignoring that, the blond yanked Harry and then shoved him toward his parents. "Don't make your mum cry more with forgetting to say goodbye," he admonished his cousin.

Harry dropped his head. "Sorry." But black hair was quick to fly back up as his cousin bounded forward to give a hug. "Bye Mum! I promise I'll behave around the professors."

Aunt Lily laughed a little at that. "Classmates too?"

Harry pulled back so he could peer up at her with a disbelieving look. "You know that includes Dudley. Neville too. I've never promised that in all my years of school. I'm not starting now. Eleven is much too young," he declared. "I'm still a kid. Even younger than those two. That's why Dudley promises you that."

Dudley jabbed Harry in the back, blue eyes narrow. "You could at least try."

His cousin only shrugged and grinned impishly at him. Uncle James chuckled and ruffled up Harry's hair into a bigger mess. Harry whined loudly, dancing out of his mother's hold to escape from his dad. "Come here Dudley," Aunt Lily said with a smile. It didn't take much prodding for Dudley. The boy burrowed himself into his aunt's hug, eyes squeezed shut. She pulled him closer and leaned down to whisper. "You'll be fine. No matter what house you'll be put in. Or Harry. You two will still be cousins and you won't always be in class. And no matter what house you join, I'll still be proud of you. If there is ever a problem, you know James and I are only an owl away. Albus will be even closer. But still write. I have a feeling Harry will be too excited to write me much. You try not to worry so much Dudley."

He nodded his head against her. Seeing Aunt Lily worried wasn't something he liked. Dudley knew he would worry anyway, but he could try.

Green eyes peered brightly at him. They were already a bit wet. "Winter will be here before you know it. You should hurry up and get on the train. It's getting close to 11 o'clock."

"Bye Aunt Lily," he said softly. With a final squeeze, Dudley let her go and turned to leave. He realized the whistle was going off and startled by not hearing it before. A different set of green eyes went bright at the sight of him, Harry having waited to drag Dudley on board himself. Suddenly, he was up and in and staring down out the window. Blue eyes watched until the sight of hands waving disappeared as the train went around a bend.

He was on his way to Hogwarts. After everything, he was on his way.

The blond pinched himself.

Harry cracked up into laughter as he fell into the seat beside him. "Pretty sure it's real!" He gave Dudley another pinch, a hard one on his side. Shouting, Dudley shoved his cousin away, who laughed again and bounced on his bottom. Carefully, he took the cage and placed it up, feeling a bit sorry for jolting the owl.

The blond caught sight of Neville inching slowly away. Before the other boy could sit on the opposite seat, Harry reached out and yanked Neville onto their seat. His tongue flew out at Dudley, who scowled. "Me and you and Neville! All together, right? It's going to be great without Mum or your gr—Ow!"

Finally reaching around Neville between them, Dudley had bopped his cousin over the head. It was blindingly obvious Harry had eavesdropped while waiting for him.

"You're only giving me more to worry about when you do that."

Harry gave a lopsided smile. "No one's yelling at me acting like this. Relax, Dud, I'm not getting in trouble." That was debatable. "Besides, I got your mind off the houses. There's no way we're not going to be in the same house. I'm sure of it. Just as sure as you coming to Hogwarts with me. And Neville. Think of all the fun we'll have!"

Neville turned where he sat, face pale and eyes wide. Dudley patted the boy's knee reassuringly. There it was. Somehow, Harry's confidence made this all very real in a way a pinch never could. They were definitely on their way to Hogwarts.

* * *

Author's Note: So far, the 'What If' story is continuing. Whether that is good or bad, I have no inkling of an idea. I plan on writing small chunks on Sunday as long as it drives me to do so. I've been having fun reading a Harry visiting an AU where his parents are still alive. No Dudley, sad, but I'm a bit biased because of this story. Their James is far less fun. Very much serious dad. I think I like my grown and still very much flawed James. That man totally would tell Harry to say hello to the professors by way of a tiny, little prank.


	8. Chapter 8

In an effort to distract himself, also not trusting of what his cousin might think of to do on the long ride, Dudley dug out a deck of playing cards from his pants pocket. Sure enough, Harry's face lit up and Neville sagged in relief. The blond grinned at them both. "I came prepared," he stated. It was mostly aimed at Neville, who smiled and huffed with amusement as Harry cheered, oblivious.

"You sure did! Why didn't I think of bringing something like this? Here, let's use the floor and play Jackass." Catching sight of their faces as he moved to sit, Harry grinned. "Or Bullshit if you two are scared I'll make your hands red."

Dudley shook his head, opening the pack and moving to sit on the floor. He grinned a little though. Of course Harry went straight to the games he couldn't call by their 'proper names' around the adults. His cousin grinned wider, eyebrows waggling above his glasses. "Come on, you know you want to Dudley."

"Fine." He settled down on the floor. Neville followed suit, appearing only slightly dismayed at the choice, glancing back to check the closed door to their compartment. Then Dudley said the word. "Bullshit."

"All right," Harry crowed at Dudley's declaration. "Bullshit it is!"

A few games in, he was pleased to see they hadn't been completely trounced by Harry. Dudley ate another Chocolate Frog by thanks of the woman with the cart earlier and the pocket money he'd been given from Uncle James for this special day. If Harry saw him smiling, Dudley could pretend it was for chocolate reasons. This was a game where Harry's surprising sneakiness came into play. His cousin usually won more than half easily. Usually. Dudley grinned as the pile between them grew larger and saw green eyes darting from it to them, trying to determine if Neville had lied before he flourished out cards for his turn. "Two Jacks!"

He and Neville shared a look, then grinned across the pile at Harry. Harry faltered, blinking up at them with wide eyes. Then he puffed up and snorted. "What? Like I'd lie when I could be handed this giant?"

"Do you want to do the honors Neville," Dudley asked.

Harry rolled his eyes. "You can't freak me out. You're just trying to bluff me before you chance saying it. Again. Two Jacks. Besides, Neville has only one card left. Ooooh!" His cousin straightened up, green eyes growing brighter. "That's something I've done! Neville wouldn't think you'd do it."

"I wouldn't," Neville agreed softly. "But I have a Jack."

"So? There's four in a deck and thanks for announcing your next turn will be a lie," Harry finished gleefully.

Then Neville glanced over to Dudley, eyes bright. "And Dudley has two." The boy looked back over to see Harry's face go suddenly pale, looking incredulously at the other two card players. Dudley snickered. It wasn't often his cousin could be outsneaked and it was great to see his goal of doing so had finally paid off with this method today. He and Neville had been flashing fingers at each other in the guise of shuffling their cards and fidgeting with them throughout the game, showing each other how many of each card they had.

Harry looked back to the overlarge pile between them and back up to them. "That's cheating!"

"Isn't that the point to this game?" Dudley grinned as his cousin sputtered.

"Bullshit," Neville cried out loudly with delight. Harry scowled, flipping over the two he'd placed down so they could see the eight of hearts and six of diamonds. Dudley shared a high five with the boy and Neville burst into giggles. "We win."

Harry sat up taller. "Game's not over yet," he declared in a challenging voice.

"What kind of game allows you to say _that_?" A voice asked suddenly from the doorway. All three of them spun to see an awestruck red headed boy standing there. The same boy who'd had the misfortune of winding up with Trevor the toad landing on his head at the platform. Neville squeaked, going red. Dudley wasn't sure if it was due to coming face to face with this boy or the fact of being caught shouting such a word. Probably both.

"You want in?" Harry asked suddenly. "We can start a new game."

"I'm counting it as a loss for you then," Dudley declared. He tossed his handful of cards down, Neville quickly following before Harry could take his words back. Knowing it would rankle his cousin, he added, "That'd make it three lost out of five, a failing grade to your favorite game."

"It'd be my favorite game too if I get to say that," the red head said approvingly. Enthusiastic, he quickly made his way inside. "You don't mind if I join you here? Everywhere else is full. And there's this girl who tried to drag me into bothering everyone else with asking all sorts of questions. I managed to ditch her a couple of compartments back. She been here yet?"

Dudley shook his head. Shifting to make room for the new player, he spotted Harry pointing at the card pile and muttering to himself. He grinned to himself. No wonder his cousin didn't speak up like he usually did. He was trying to salvage the last game. Purposely ignoring Harry's efforts to figure out which cards he and Neville had thrown in, Dudley scooped up the pile and began reshuffling them to pass out for game number six. This, he thought, was an excellent distraction.

His cousin shouted in dismay, then seemed to realize there was someone new sitting beside him. "Oh, right. My name's Harry Potter. That's my cousin Dudley Dursley and his friend. Neville."

"Ron Weasley," the boy answered easily. "Your dad is James Potter, isn't he? My dad's mentioned him before. He works at the Ministry. Black works—"

The red headed boy spun to stare wide eyed at Neville on his other side suddenly. "Wait. Not Neville Longbottom?"

Neville shrank into himself, scooting away from Ron's attention. Dudley scowled. Fast, he shot back at the boy who caused it. "Wait. Not Ronniekins?"

Ron's ears turned a bright red. Harry cracked up into laughter. "That's right! I forgot! I think I might call you that. Sounds fun to say."

"Stupid Fred and George," Ron muttered angrily. His blue eyes went from Dudley and over to Neville. The boy deflated, shifting awkwardly on his bottom. "Oh, well. Sorry. Didn't mean anything by it. Just didn't expect it. What other words can we use in this game?"

Easy to forgive, Harry launched into an explanation of the game, calling the boy by his name rather than the one his older brothers called him by earlier. It took Dudley a little longer to stop eyeballing Ron. However, it appeared as though Ron meant it and didn't bring up the topic. He certainly looked over and seemed curious, but forgot all about it once the game began.

"B-bullshit," Neville mumbled several minutes into the game.

Harry proudly flipped the top card, proving it was as he said it was. Then pushed the small pile across.

Ron stared. "Blimey. That's the first you've said anything since we started, isn't it?" It was, in fact, the first time Neville had spoken up since Ron arrived. Not that Ron's words helped matters. "You can yell bullshit if you want. Like before when I came in."

The door slide open and they all went wide eyed. All four stayed silent, as though hoping the newcomer hadn't heard that. It was a girl. She had lots of bushy brown hair, rather large front teeth, and already wore her new Hogwarts robes. It was clearly the girl Ron had spoken of when he arrived. And Dudley recognized her.

"Oh, are you playing a card game? Is it magical, like Exploding Snap? It was really quite fascinating. You should have seen it with me," she said. Ron hunched down at that comment directed toward him.

"I do wish they didn't already have enough players so I could give it a try. Nobody in my family is magic at all. It was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased of course. I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is I've heard. I've learned all our course books by heart of course. I just hope it will be—" Her bossy voice cut off as her eyes finally moved from Neville to Dudley to Harry.

"You're Harry Potter." Her brown eyes flickered back over to him. "And Dudley."

It was clear his cousin was taken by surprise. Dudley wasn't surprised. Not by how it was Harry she recognized first or that Harry didn't remember her.

"It's Hermione," he offered Harry. Green eyes found blue, still lost. "She was in Remus's classroom a couple years ago. The girl who liked books. Her parents are dentists. She came to school early once."

Harry's face cleared. "Oh right! You were the only early one I asked who didn't join us out on the playground after we got there with Remus!"

The blond huffed in amusement. "That would be what you remember about her."

She didn't look nearly as amused. "I never heard you ask. I would have joined if you'd waited for me to finish the last pages of my favorite book," she retorted crossly. "Like Dudley."

Blue and green eyes met again, but neither boy spoke up about her shining example of the pair. Dudley wasn't about to tell her the real reason he'd stayed behind in the classroom rather than take advantage of going out onto the playground early. And his cousin, despite what people said of him, wasn't completely thoughtless before speaking. There was exactly one reason to the few times Dudley would stay inside, insisting that Harry go ahead. Harry wasn't going to say anything in front of Ron or Hermione. Neville knew. Even if the other boy didn't know all the things that happened because of it.

"I'm Hermione Granger by the way." Her attention had traveled back to Neville. "Who are you?"

Predictably, the round faced boy ducked his head away from the attention. Dudley eyed the bushy haired girl carefully. From what he remembered of her, and saw now, Hermione was inquisitive and verbose about what interested her. Even if he was quoting Remus in his description, it still fit. With the magical world new to her, Dudley would introduce Neville. Except he hesitated. The possibility of her amped up interest leading her to books that mentioned Neville was pretty high. Ron's eyes switched between the rest uncertainly, then scowled up at Hermione.

It was Harry who broke the silence. "Neville Longbottom. You want to be another player for a round of Bullshit?"

The invitation had the desired effect for all the boys there. Hermione puffed up, eyes blazing with disapproval. "No, that's a terrible game! We're on a school train. That sort of language is sure to be against the rules. Are you really Neville Longbottom? I know all about you of course. I got a few extra books for background reading and you're in _Modern Magical History_ and _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_ and _Great Wizarding Events of the 20th Century_."

Bewildered, Dudley stared. She was still here? Then, miraculously, just as quickly, she moved away from one touchy subject. And, unfortunately, into another one.

"Do any of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around and I hope I'll be in Gryffindor. It sounds the best by far. I heard Dumbledore himself was in it. But I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad. You better change you know. I expect we'll be there soon."

Her nose wrinkled at the card pile, sniffing before leaving.

"There went that." Harry flopped back onto the floor. "Bossy voiced kids are supposed to get all uppity about rules and leave you alone when you say stuff like that. But no," he drew out aggravated. "She goes on to bring up the very thing I was trying to distract you from."

"Like I'm going to forget," Dudley responded dryly. He snorted. "You didn't even realize it would be an issue until we got on the station. While I planned mine."

His cousin shifted up, clearly baffled by the last sentence. Dudley tapped the card pile currently in the middle of the floor and Neville hide his reaction behind his cards. Something clicked on Harry's face and his cousin shrugged it off.

Dudley eyeballed the door. "Next time that door slides open, I'm just going to say I'm you," he grumbled.

"I'll do it," Harry volunteered brightly. His green eyes were alight in mischief when Dudley looked back. "Sounds like fun!"

"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," Ron muttered to himself. Dudley, Harry, and Neville all turned to look at him. Ron's face was decidedly glum. It almost set Dudley at ease. Seeing that he or Neville weren't the only ones worrying over it. "My whole family has been Gryffindor. I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin."

"You too," Harry groused. He started pawing around the floor, clearly looking for something. "Where did Trevor go? If fun isn't working, maybe a good scare will. Well, Ron's anyway."

"Harry."

"What? Fine. I think it'd be fun to watch. Trevor's harmless anyway."

"Who's Trevor?" Ron's voice came out high pitched, scooting away from Harry with wide eyes.

"Neville's toad," Harry answered distractedly as he checked through the discarded Chocolate Frog boxes. Still on all fours, his cousin glanced across the floor and then grinned. "But I thought that ages ago when you freaked out Neville."

It was then Dudley spotted Trevor sitting comfortably in Ron's jacket pocket and realized what Harry had done. At some point, his cousin had put the toad there. Probably for much of the same reason Harry would move or plant things anywhere. Like in the physical education teacher's office after she made snide comments over Dudley's footwork in class.

"It was you?" The red headed boy gapped over at Harry. "You're the one who had the toad earlier?"

"Yep!"

Searching now as well, Neville asked nervously, "Did you find him?"

"Er…" Harry's green eyes blinked and he glanced away. Sighing, Dudley nodded at Neville. But before he could speak up, the door slide open again. "I'm him," Harry declared loudly. "I'm Neville Longbottom!"

Dudley shook his head at his cousin's quickness to avoid properly answering Neville. Unless it was posed as some fun game, Harry pretty much never lied. He couldn't follow through for long enough to make the lie work. Harry's version of lying was wording his answer just so. When Neville asked earlier on when Dudley had his accidental magic, surprised and relieved he wasn't the only or oldest late bloomer, Harry had pipped in it was a couple weeks before the eleventh birthday. Not specifying that the eleventh birthday in question wasn't Dudley's own. But a yes or no question was more difficult for Harry to sneak out of.

"So it's you is it?" The pale, blond haired boy stared back with interest at Harry. His hair was so light it looked almost white under the lights. Two other boys stood just behind the him, both thick set like Dudley was built, if with a bit more plumpness to it. He felt a small rush of appreciation to his aunt like he always did when he saw other children who looked to be spoiled unhealthily. Except these two looked more like bodyguards standing on each side of the first.

Dudley shifted, getting up and refusing to wince at the pinching feeling to his left leg. "No. He's not. I'm Neville Longbottom. Who are you?"

The boy's eyebrows furrowed downwards, gazing back and forth between Dudley and his cousin. Harry waggled his fingers and snickered. Finally settling on Dudley, the boy jabbed a thumb back to the two behind him. "This is Crabbe and this is Goyle. And my name's Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."

Surprised, Dudley blinked. This boy was part of the Malfoy family? Ron coughed, trying to hide a snigger. Beside him, Harry had his head tilted at the Malfoy boy in consideration.

"Think my name's funny do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all about the Weasleys. They have red ha—"

"No," Ron snapped in rudely. "I'm Longbottom."

Draco Malfoy stared at the red head, incredulous. "You're a Weasley. Red hair. Freckles. And right down to having far too many children to afford." The boy's gaze traveled up Ron and his wardrobe. Ron's ears turned red. Then, the Malfoy looked to Dudley standing there, before traveling to the floor where Harry and Neville sat. "This is the very last compartment and I don't think we'll be leaving until I figure out which of you is him. Besides, we've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some."

Goyle, the boy on the right, reached for the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron. Ron leapt forward. Dudley hurried to step forward, but it was Trevor who reached Goyle first. Hollering, the large boy did an odd jumping dance that sent Harry, then Ron, into hysterics. Neville's face was anything but laughter as he scrambled out of the way, watching Goyle with fright. The other two backed away from Goyle, wide eyed. Trevor the toad finally hopped off and the three boys left.

Ron plucked the toad off of his head, not upset at where Trevor landed for the second time that day. The red head chuckled. Footsteps sounded outside of the compartment again and a second later Dudley was face to face with a breathless Hermione. Her face twisted in confusion at the sight of his cousin rolling on the floor in laughter. She straightened.

"You better hurry up and put your robes on. I've just been up front to ask the conductor and he says we're nearly there." Hermione paused slightly. "You haven't been fighting have you? You'll be in trouble before we get there."

Dudley glanced over to his cousin on the floor. Somehow, he wouldn't be surprised.

"It was Trevor who was fighting," Ron argued against the accusation. "I would've said I'd lose a toad as fast as I could if I had one, but this one is definitely a winner."

Blue eyes watched Neville's face brighten at the compliment, taking his toad back from Ron.

"Would you mind leaving while we change?"

"All right. I only came here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," she said in a snippy voice and left. Dudley wasn't sure if this was a mark for or against them in her eyes. While they hadn't been running around, he couldn't really say they hadn't been acting childishly. They had spent nearly the entire ride playing a cardgame that was driven on the use of a swearword. It had turned out to be an excellent distraction from his worry. For the most part. He looked back to the window and saw how dark it'd gotten.

"Hermione did have a point in getting changed," he said. Harry saw where Dudley was looking and stood to see out the window as well. All four of the boys shuffled around and removed their outer jackets to put on the school robes. Dudley stared down at his chest where the crest sat with all the house mascots.

Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Brave and chivalrous. Ambitious and cunning. Hard work and loyalty. Knowledge and wit. Ron and his brothers could be right. Ravenclaw didn't sound so bad. And Aunt Lily wasn't wrong that they wouldn't always be in class. It was the rooming part that sent the most terror through him. At least with Harry, or Neville, Dudley knew what he'd be getting into. That and—

He had promised his aunt he would try not to worry. Dudley shook his head and looked away from the Hogwarts crest. Green eyes stared back at him, suspicious.

"Don't give me more to worry about trying to distract me."

His cousin's face tried to play at innocent, then turned amused. "That obvious, am I?"

"I dunno," Ron spoke up. "I wouldn't mind another dancing Goyle happening again."

The red headed boy proceeded to act it out, grinning at causing Dudley to laugh along with Harry and Neville. And Dudley found himself not minding Ron much after all. It was probably much better than whatever his cousin would have gotten in mind for a distraction. Shortly after, they all exited the compartment. Dudley carried the owl cage again and switched his focus to getting safely out through the crowd rather than the sorting that lay ahead.

He'd be fine, he told himself. Trying to muster up his aunt's reassuring words and comforting smile, Dudley made his way off of the train and into the cold night air. He had his own wand. Not some knock off of his cousin's wand. His own wand. Fixed a vase and flew a broom. He belonged here. Dudley's hand gripped tightly on the cage. The snowy white owl ruffled her feathers and he swore he saw her head nod. Resolve trickled into him. He'd be fine.

* * *

Author's Note: This Harry would take control of the wheel and drive it into swearing just for the fun of it. I'm with Dudley. I'm not surprised. However, are either of those two card games widely enough known for boys to be playing in Britain? Ah well. The 'What If' story continues! The house worries will soon be coming to an end for Dudley. I'm sure the boy will still worry. Especially during the time after his sorting when Harry gets his turn. 


	9. Chapter 9

He wasn't immune. The blonde had about a full minute of relief at the sight of the castle, staring up in awe. Then the worry refilled up inside of him. Dudley even wouldn't care if his cousin's excited movements did wind up turning over their boat. There already was a horrible sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach.

Harry tugged at him impatiently. "Come on Dudley." The blond stumbled over the edge, left foot catching. He reached down, annoyed, and pulled it out. Neville bit his lip as he glanced down at Dudley's shoe. "You can't just stay in the boat. There's a whole castle to explore sitting up there. Let's go!" Harry tugged harder and then called back, "You coming Neville?"

Ron jogged to catch up with them, his eyes amused. "He always like this then?"

"Don't be laughing at my cousin," Harry said. His nose crinkled over at the red head.

"Er." Thrown, Ron blinked dumbly. His mouth moved before finally being able to speak. "I was kind of talking about you."

"Oh." Harry's face cleared and brightened. "That's all right then."

The path ahead of them turned from wet grass to rocky stone steps. With a grin, Harry went faster. By the time they reached the top, they were the first there standing beside the very large man who lead them there. The man's beard shifted as he peered down at them with warm eyes. His gruff voice rumbled out a greeting and they all nodded when he asked if they were doing all right. "Good." And after checking behind them for the rest, he raised up a large hand, fisted, knocking on the huge oak door three times.

The door opened to a woman in emerald green robes, dark hair pulled back. She gazed down at all the students with a stern face. Dudley could feel something else besides worry over the sorting again. Hope. That whatever happened inside, hope that she was head of whatever house his cousin got. The woman, Professor McGonagall, Dudley recalled numbly, led the first years inside. He couldn't even feel some of the earlier awe as they walked. Walked closer to their pronouncement of where they would be placed. Breath Dudley, he reminded himself. Keep walking.

Without fully realizing it, his feet stopped moving with the rest. Everyone crowded close, so there wasn't too much room to move anyway. Dudley peered about. The professor seemed to have led them to a chamber and he could hear the muffled chatter from elsewhere. In here, no one's mouths moved as all their faces were directed up. He drew his attention back to the professor.

She greeted the whole group. Not wanting to miss any information she might have, Dudley listened closely as she spoke of the start of term banquet and how, before they could sit and join, would be sorted into their houses. Professor McGonagall went on to stress the importance of houses and how it would be like your family while at Hogwarts. Dudley chanced a quick glance over to see his cousin grinning at him.

The blond put his attention back up to the professor. Any hope he might have clung to in reducing any of his worry disappeared. She wasn't saying anything he didn't already know or figure out. Then after a terrifying pronouncement that they would be sorted in front of the whole school, she left.

"How?"

"Some sort of test I think." He spun to see Ron fidgeting and biting at his lip. "Fred says it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."

Dudley's shoulders slumped at the reminder. Ron didn't know how either. "The same brother who said we'd wrestle a troll?"

The red head nodded, wincing at the reminder himself. "Yeah, that's the one. Sorry."

Besides Harry, who looked more excited at the mystery, everyone else waiting in the chamber looked just about the same. Scared. Or panicked. Hermione was talking very fast as she went over all the spells she could remember reading from the schoolbooks. Those near her seemed more alarmed with how much she already knew before whatever the test was. In an odd way, her words soothed Dudley. He knew those spells and recognized those phrases from the books.

If there was a test of their knowledge involved, he'd been swiping Aunt Lily's old class books to read at St. Jerome's Church for the past couple of years. Preforming them was a different thing, but that was why they were coming to Hogwarts. He could manage a Pepperup Potion with as many times as he'd watched his aunt make it. Well, probably. There was a spell involved to tie up the potion at the end. The rest of it he was pretty certain he had memorized.

"Woah! Dudley, look!"

With his cousin's sudden delight followed by screams, he whipped his head around quickly to see what it was. Pearly white and translucent, nearly twenty ghosts had floated through the wall of the chamber. Caught up in an argument about someone named Peeves, they appeared unaware of the students below.

Harry dashed forward and Dudley managed to snag his cousin before he jumped up. Doing a little hop instead, Harry waved. "Hello!"

The ghosts all turned, seeming startled at the sight of them all. "Students," said one. He smiled down at them all. "About to be sorted, I suppose? Hope to see you in Hufflepuff. My old house you know."

It was then Professor McGonagall came back and the ghosts drifted back out of the chamber. His cousin rushed forward, winding up behind a sandy haired boy. Dudley watched him line up, the tightness around his chest returning as he saw Ron glance back from hurrying after Harry.

Dudley clutched the top of the owl cage and found Neville beside him checking on his toad. He waited, putting it off himself. "Ready," he finally asked. Neville's round face turned to face him, sheet white, like the ghost Ben Carpenter from primary school dressed as last Halloween. Dudley amended his question. "To keep me company up there?"

Hesitating, looking at the doorway first, Neville nodded. Then they went to get into line at the back. Spotting a messy head of hair poking out of line up ahead, the blond set his face. Sure enough, Harry found them and took a foot out of line. Dudley narrowed his eyes and jabbed the air with his finger. The point was clear. Stay in line. Dudley jabbed his finger again and tipped his head up. Slowly, Harry turned his head back around and caught Professor McGonagall's formidable gaze. He went back into line. At the professor's sight heading back toward him, Dudley hurriedly shifted back into a proper line himself.

Their line traveled, going through a set of double doors into the Great Hall. Older students had gone hush at the sight of the first years coming inside. There were a few whispers, which meant not all of them were staring at them. Four long tables made up the length of the hall. Four houses, Dudley thought and swallowed. He craned his head to get a good look up ahead, past the older students and tables and floating candles lit above them. Dudley had hoped to get an idea of what he'd be facing. What they all would be facing for the sorting. Instead, he noticed another table at the front where the professors sat. And Albus.

The older man noticed him too, raising up his goblet in a tiny salute before taking a drink.

Upon reaching the front, all older student's eyes on them, Dudley watched Professor McGonagall closely as she left and returned. A stool and a very patched and dirty hat. Old. Blue eyes focused in on the hat. If they were going to just pull their house out of a hat, it was turned the wrong way.

The hat's brim moved, then it began to sing.

Dudley's stomach clenched. Magic. It was going to be a magic, looking inside of you for your qualities sort of magic. There was no way it was random like in primary. They weren't going to pull a house out of the hat. It was going to be the hat pulling the house out of you.

Nothing hidden in his head that it couldn't see?

Panicked, Dudley gulped for air, trying to slow down his breathing. The hat went on, singing on all the qualities of the houses until it ended to an applause. Then, without pause to quell any nerves, the sorting ceremony continued with Professor McGonagall calling out the first name to sit and put on the hat to be sorted. Abbott, Hannah.

The pink faced girl stumbled out of line to place the hat over her head. It fell down over her eyes. Well, at least they wouldn't be able to see everyone staring when the sorting happened, Dudley thought morosely. "Hufflepuff," the hat declared. And she went to sit at the cheering table to the far right. Bones, Susan was next to be called up.

Dudley's stomach swooped. Alphabetical. They were going alphabetical. Sure, he wasn't going to be first to go, but him and Neville standing at the end of the line coming in made no difference to putting their sorting off a little bit longer. He'd be sorted first. Before Harry. Before Neville. Ron and Hermione. Even the Malfoy boy from the train would be sorted after him.

Hufflepuff.

Then Boot, Terry. Ravenclaw.

Brocklehurst, Mandy. Ravenclaw.

Brown, Lavender. Gryffindor.

Bulstrode, Millicent. Slytherin.

Corner, Michael. Ravenclaw.

At the C's already?

Cornfoot, Stephen. Ravenclaw.

Crabbe, Vincent. The boy from the train went to Slytherin. As did the girl who followed. Davis, Tracey.

Dursley, Dudley.

Automatically, he moved his feet and feeling as though he was truly ill, sat on the stool and put the hat on like those before him. Two for Hufflepuff, four for Ravenclaw, three for Slytherin, and one for Gryffindor. If it was going to try to keep house numbers even—

"Hmm. Plenty of dedication."

After getting over the shock of the hat speaking directly to him and not just singing or shouting house names, Dudley shifted on the stool. Hufflepuff perhaps, he wondered.

"And not a bad mind here. Not in the slightest. But where to put you? Ravenclaw would serve you well, except, well now. You know the value of knowledge most certainly, however, your purpose to learning is driven by a different need. A desire to prove yourself. You are not afraid to take a chance to get what you desire either. A wizard."

He stiffened at that. It knew. It knew what he and Harry had done this summer.

"Even in the face of failure, trying whatever you could, reading more about it. Yes. Drive, determination, resourceful to reach your goals. To not just fit in, but to better yourself. A better person, to be a good man. One who does not live up to your parents' names."

And before Dudley could think anything against that being called out, the hat opened its brim to shout for the whole hall.

"Slytherin!"

* * *

Author's Note: Well...I know I saw him going to Slytherin when he preformed his first accidental magic. He's determined, even if he worries. More than Harry does to say the least. Ambition is a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work. I always thought Slytherin and Hufflepuff fit weirdly together with that quality. But Dudley doesn't have exactly the same sense of fair play. Or patience. He isn't loyal enough to trust a person just on their word...look at how he never forgot who Albus was after him and Harry got caught. Agree? Disagree? I did tilt toward Ravenclaw for him, but the reasons behind his value of knowledge seemed greater. In any case, the 'What If' story continues. Which means the worry of house transfers over to Harry. Oh Harry.


	10. Chapter 10

Dudley wasn't aware of walking to the table, but here he sat. When he finally peered to the other first years already there, Crabbe was staring back, clearly at a loss of what to make of another boy there. The two girls dipped their heads in greeting. The one sorted before him tilted her head to study him for a moment longer. Both their attentions returned back to the front of the hall and they clapped.

The blond boy followed the action. Slytherin? Him? Sure, Aunt Lily said how everyone could probably fit into all of the houses, but Dudley hadn't been expecting this house. There was nothing really wrong about the traits in it, like his aunt said, but it was only that its reputation had become more tarnished than the other houses over the course of that war. That this was the house more likely to still lean toward ideas touted by the other side's leader.

He swallowed. Lily was one thing. What about James?

The other boy from the train, Gregory Goyle, joined Slytherin table next to Crabbe. Then Dudley whipped his head back around at hearing the next name called out to be sorted.

Hermione practically ran to the stool and sat, jamming the hat over her head. He barely had enough time to work up any nerves for Remus's former student when the hat called out "Gryffindor!" The blond clapped, his head swimming from what his uncle's face would be to the soothing face of Remus snapping over at James. The image helped. And he glanced over to the head table, jolting at seeing Albus glancing over at him too. The older man smiled at him before putting his attention back onto the sorting.

Still, the blond couldn't quite forget overhearing his uncle ranting to his aunt when he first moved in. Back to that time he looked back in shame with his actions and temper tantrums. James had compared Dudley to a spoilt Slytherin, albeit one that shouted on for muggle supremacy instead of pureblood supremacy. It left a bad taste in his mouth and the very little appetite he might have had left disappeared.

Greengrass came next, a girl named Daphne. Her face was composed, sure of herself as she glided over to where the hat sat on the stool. She sat primly, shoulders back as she lowered the hat over her head. "Slytherin!" Looking completely unruffled, she made her way over to the Slytherin table. Admiring her poise, Dudley watched as she made her way closer. Her smooth blonde hair was pinned back on one side of her aristocratic face. Slate grey eyes flickered to him, then away as she sat next to the other two girls.

Between the girls separating from the boys, Crabbe and Goyle keeping a distance, Dudley was not looking too forward at the rest of the year. Of being…Slytherin.

Then he found Neville. Harry and Ron had, at some point, moved in the line to stand next to the boy. The round face boy was pale, trembling. Something in Dudley pleaded with the universe to at least guarantee them classes together, even if it wouldn't be a house. Neville was gloomily positive he would be Hufflepuff because of how his grandmother spoke of his father and Gryffindor.

Whispers hissed across the hall at hearing Longbottom, Neville. At the Slytherin bench, Dudley tightened his fists at seeing how the boy clammed up. But the other boy made it to the hat and after some time of deliberation, "Gryffindor!"

Stunned, Neville stared as the Gryffindor table cheered loudly for him and slowly stumbled his way forward. Dudley applauded himself for the boy, glad for Neville's pessimistic prediction to be proved wrong. Seconds later, Neville went red in the face and rushed back up to give the hat to the Morag MacDougal. His house burst into laughter and a few clapped him on the back when he returned to the table. Then Dudley jolted at seeing his new housemates studying him suspiciously and he lowered his hands, stomach swooping uneasily, and turned back around to watch the rest of the sorting.

A few students later, the Slytherin house earned Draco Malfoy. That hat barely touched the Malfoy boy's head before declaring it too. Giving Dudley a strange look, eyebrow raised, the boy sat neatly between Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. At least Theodore Nott sat beside Dudley. The weedy looking boy appeared bored and uncaring though, disregarding the ceremony to slump his head into his hand and huffing as he halfheartedly scanned the night sky on the ceiling. Dudley looked up to stare as well. It was marginally better than facing fears and worries of exactly how terrible this year would go with these as his housemates.

There was a tap on his left thigh and Dudley stiffened, snapping his head over to who did that. Theodore Nott blinked back at him and then pointed to the front of the hall. It was Harry's turn. Surprised, Dudley looked back to the boy who poked him. "Thanks," he said softly. There was shrug and then Dudley's blue eyes went wide, spinning back around to his cousin.

Panicked, Dudley's arms vibrated at how tightly his grip was on the bench underneath him. Harry was staring fiercely at the hat as he walked toward it. When he glanced over to Dudley, the blond shook his head and narrowed his eyes as he mouthed silently. No. Don't you dare do it. Harry's mouth pressed firmly together and green eyes went bright, filling with determination. And then, his cousin wasn't looking at him anymore but shoving the hat on his head.

The world pressed down on Dudley, this one moment, one minute, one mouth muttering silently. Dudley ached to race forward and shake his cousin from doing whatever it was. Threatening the hat? It'd been sorting kids for years into wherever it thought it best for them, not the other way around. Harry wasn't likely at all to changing it. Except perhaps, provoking the thing. And getting expelled completely if he didn't like getting the house he should, Gryffindor probably. Because his cousin would follow through on his word in this case. It was seven years. Seven long years.

The hat's upper brim shifted and Dudley's heart pounded, knowing Harry wasn't going to like this. And then its mouth opened wide and made its declaration.

"Slytherin!"

Everything in Dudley went frozen.

What?

Slytherin?

That couldn't be right.

What…what just happened?

A scattered applause followed Harry as he leapt up off the stool with a gleeful grin and headed over to the Slytherin table to sit on Dudley's other side. It wasn't just Dudley staring wide eyed at his cousin. Most the table was looking very much taken aback. Even the professors looked startled. One looked like a cross between having ate a lemon and being thunderous at the sight of Harry at the Slytherin table.

It didn't seem to change when three students later, a Sally Smith joined the table in the same bug eyed look at Harry, who just continued cheerfully clapping after each student as though he'd done nothing of note. Up front, Ron's gaze on Harry didn't waver, wildly disturbed at where Dudley's cousin sat. Fresh worry and fear filled his face when he heard his name called, but he looked very relieved in heading over to Gryffindor where Neville was and his older brothers clapping him on the back.

With a Zabini, Blaise to finish off the sorting—he sat at Slytherin too—Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll of names and put the hat and stool away. Albus was standing now, a smile on his face and arms open wide to the hall of students. Dudley stared at the older man. He'd seen the face earlier and couldn't figure how Albus hid his shock so well now. Albus had the twinkle back in his eyes as he smiled warmly. A twinkle. Which meant Albus didn't think the whole Harry-sorted-to-Slytherin situation wasn't something to be concerned over. Dudley glowered.

He disagreed. Massively.

"Welcome. Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts. Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words." So did Dudley. Potentially loud ones. At his particularly pleased looking cousin. "And here they are. Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you."

Albus sat back down. Everyone clapped and cheered. Dudley couldn't feel any of the cheer and most of the other first years near him stared, trying to hide any confusion on his words. Beside him, Harry laughed at Albus's words, then brightened and nudged Dudley as he grabbed for the roast beef at the table. The whole table was full of food.

Dudley ignored it and jabbed his cousin with a finger. "What did you do," he asked in low tones.

Harry blinked. "Grab food?"

There was a snorted huff of amusement from somewhere behind Dudley. An arm slid a bowl of roasted potatoes in front of them and Dudley turned to look. Theodore Nott tilted his head, dark eyes studying him and then roving over to Harry, who thanked the boy. Ignoring whatever it was that twisted in the boy's face for now, Dudley put his attention back onto his cousin.

"What. Did. You. Do." He prodded harshly with his finger. "The hat Harry. What did you do to it?"

"Oh, that." Harry's face cleared, then turned mischievous. "Put it on my head like everyone else."

Dudley grabbed the plate away from his cousin, glaring. Harry wilted and whined, trying to jab at the food with his fork once before giving up at how Dudley covered it with his arms.

"I asked for Slytherin, okay? That's it. And it put me here. I told you we'd be in the same house, didn't I? Can I have my food back now? I'm starved." At seeing his cousin appeared honest with him, Dudley pushed the plate back over. He was sure there was more to it than that. It was a magical hat that sorted students where they belonged. Why would it go along with where a student asked to go over what it saw of them? Dudley stabbed at a roasted potato for himself, suddenly upset he hadn't tried convincing the hat to lean to the other house it'd thought best for him.

"You asked for Slytherin," came a voice of disbelief from the table. Blond and black heads of hair popped back up from their plates. It was the Malfoy boy, Draco.

Harry shrugged. "Yeah, so?"

"You're a Potter," the boy accused.

"I don't see how that matters to what house I go in. There's nothing wrong with Slytherin." Harry reached for more food and then his eyes lit up in humor. "Are you saying there's something wrong with wanting to be in Slytherin? Were you hoping for—"

"Of course there's nothing wrong with Slytherin," Draco defended loudly. "It's the best house after all."

Most of the others nodded in agreement, all of them watching the ongoing conversation.

"Well then," Harry said happily. "Let's eat to all of us being in Slytherin!"

And suddenly, the attention of the other first years fell onto Dudley again and he quickly followed his cousin's example. He wasn't altogether sure of why they were looking at him. The pug faced girl, who both had the cuteness of a puppy and reminded Dudley a bit too much of his Aunt Marge's dogs, nudged the girl beside her. Pansy Parkinson came to his mind. And Tracey Davis was the girl sorted right before him. Tracey fidgeted and Daphne Greengrass sighed, turning her head to gaze at him. It was piercing and he noticed they had a hint of blue in them, but not much emotion other than seeming annoyed.

"So, we're curious, how long have you two known each other?"

He stared. This is what bothered the rest? How they didn't know him, but Harry did. The blond frowned though. Daphne didn't react, clearly waiting for an answer with the rest of the table. They'd all paused for a moment in their eating at the question. He had a feeling there was more to it. She, and the others, had given him an odd look even before Harry was sorted.

"A while," he said. She continued to gaze at him and he relented. "Harry's my cousin, but I moved in when I was almost six." That was when they actually started knowing each other. The visits he remembered before that weren't really too much fun as he stuck close to his parents rather than play with Harry.

There were mutters at what he said around the table. He caught the words mixed, half, related, muggle, throw away, wizard, and then a curse word from somewhere.

"I didn't realize Auror James Potter had a sister," Daphne commented. Theodore Nott huffed beside Dudley but didn't say anything. Draco looked primed to say something, but held back as he leaned forward to hear him better.

And it suddenly hit him. It wasn't that they didn't know him, but they didn't know who he was. As in his blood. He gulped and managed out something not quite a lie, but an unknown possibility of what he was to hope it worked. "Half. I… The magic in my blood is half." Or more if he included anything he might have had outside of Harry's blood. Or a muggleborn. Or something false to the wizardly world.

"You," Harry began and Dudley stomped on his cousin's foot. Pausing to think, Harry chimed in agreement. "Yep. Both of us. You want to pass the treacle tart? Thanks, what's your name again?"

"Sally. Sally Smith."

Harry grinned widely. "Thanks Sally. Anybody else want some?"

After a moment, Draco spoke up. "Give it here Potter."

Then the Malfoy boy directed the conversation over to the topic of Quidditch. Teams, players, the World Cup, and positions wanted on the house team. Harry easily jumped into the conversation, saying how he agreed with Draco on the key position on the team. Pansy agreed with Draco on everything he said, adding a few points, and Tracey agreed beside her. Vincent and Gregory nodded at Draco saying they'd want to be beaters. It didn't surprise Dudley.

But all of this did relax him. It didn't seem as though any of the other first years were going to make an issue out of what kind of blood he had. The relief helped any other worries he held over the schoolyear.

Albus stood once again, giving a speech over a few rules, like how to go about joining a Quidditch team and places to avoid. The Forbidden Forest was right in the name and then there was the third floor corridor on the right side which was followed by his usual dramatics. Harry laughed again, looking over to Dudley and they both shook their heads at Albus's idea of warnings. It was just like his warning on finding out it was a terrible idea to get closer the tracks of the London Underground.

"We'll wait," Dudley heard as Albus gave a whoosh and a flick. Words of the school song came out of it in a golden stream. He didn't turn his head, but focused on listening past everyone starting up the song. "See if they fit. Or prove useful. Keep an eye on the cousin. Bloody stupid muggles, throwing out a wizard. Bet the muggle one turned on one of ours."

Dudley swallowed. His relief came too soon. Not paying too much attention, he read the words out loud, scrambling in his mind to figure a way to survive in a house filled with people far too much like his younger self. Like Aunt Lily? With her perpetual warm kindness? He didn't think that strategy would work for him. That was who Lily was as a person. He shifted closer to his cousin. Oblivious to what had just been said, Harry moved closer as well and sang louder. He was not looking forward to this year after all, he decided. And he wasn't approving of whatever Harry did, but he was thankful to have his cousin with him.

* * *

Author's Note: Well. I just did that. Both boys are in Slytherin. Harry pulled the same stunt he did in the books. And is anyone surprised by that? The 'What If' story continues. At ten chapters, wow. 


	11. Chapter 11

Taking one last deep breath of the lingering steam, Dudley twisted the knob over to cold and off. There were alternative reasons to enjoy being up before the rest of the boys. Hot water was one of them. Quiet was another, but one he only preferred because it meant he had the whole bathroom to himself. Although, it was nice on how the shower area was set up. And the beds too. He slide the shower curtain open, gripping at the slight protrusion as he hopped up to the small cubicle changing portion. Three walled off showers in a row with changing areas for privacy.

It was the privacy part he liked. Dudley rubbed his left leg dry and gave a swipe for moisture before putting his weight down on it, slipping on the sock and liner as he did so. After testing his leg, he adjusted the liner and then patted the rest of him dry, dressing quickly.

It wasn't so much a big deal to him anymore, but he very acutely remembered what happened as a little kid. His old friends Piers, Dennis, Gordon, and Malcolm hadn't taken well to his reluctance on picking on the other kids like before. Many were so happy to see him when he returned to school. After summer and leaving early and the car accident. Those old friends took to wrestling him down when the teachers weren't looking and playing their own version of hide and seek with what they stole from him.

At switching primary schools after the aftermath of what happened to Dudley and Harry's burst of accidental magic following, he'd been paranoid to something of the same happening. It was more habit at some point. However, the new school and housing arrangements brought back that paranoia. A hot shower at the end of week one felt excellent to him. As each day went by, routine settling in, the fears weren't as strong.

The rest of the boys in his house were all right. There were all the usual getting to know you questions, mostly aimed toward Dudley, his cousin, and Blaise Zabini. Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, and Theodore Nott apparently all knew each other pretty well already. Harry cheerfully fired questions back and joked around with Draco for asking. It was only when Harry bounded in front of the rest chattering on about quidditch for a couple minutes that Draco looked truly annoyed. Probably because he didn't realize Harry had taken lead of the group right away.

"Get back Potter, you're likely to get hexed by even the most incompetent Hufflepuff duffer up there away from the group."

Glancing around to see where he was, Harry grinned. "Heh. Whoops." He'd skipped back over to Dudley and nudged him to whisper. "Someone likes Follow the Leader." Most of the first year faces from their house turned amused behind the Malfoy at the comment.

Draco was like that, swaggering around at the front while the rest of them allowed him. It kept the peace. And despite stepping on toes, his cousin was slowly charming Draco, the other Slytherin boy turning more amused at Harry's frivolous attitude and bubbly spirit. He'd begun prodding Harry with more questions, grey eyes expectant. As if Draco just wanted to see what Dudley's cousin would come up that time.

They'd not really started too much magic for most the classes. Transfiguration and Charms had them working on basics for their magic. Shooting sparks of color and practicing wand movement mostly, relieving Dudley at being able to produce those from his wand on purpose during Charms. Transfiguration with making a match a needle hadn't happened for him, but it hadn't for half of his housemates either. Still, he'd taken to practicing it in a corner of the library that a small bookcase blocked the table from the librarian's sight when she made rounds. Hermione had found him while perusing the shelves yesterday.

"Dudley," she'd said in surprise. And unlike the librarian who kept walking past after seeing him back there, hurried around the shoulder high bookshelf, spotting the match as he'd only had enough time to hide his wand under the table. "Oh! You're working on your transfiguration, aren't you? I earned our house five points for being the first to manage turning the match into the needle. It's really not that difficult once you… Magic isn't allowed in the library."

Her two front teeth nibbled on her bottom lip, then she set her stack of books on the table and sat in the chair beside him, ducking her head down low and whispering tips so quickly it sounded like a steady hiss. It was kind of nice. Better than Harry's assurances that Dudley was a wizard and would get it sometime, just like Harry would at some point. A little frustrating seeing Hermione demonstrate it so well, but blue eyes were riveted, studying her do so to be able to catch every detail of how.

After seeing the match turn decidedly pointy with an eye on the end, improvement, she beamed brightly at him and began asking how his first week at Hogwarts was going. The classes, what he liked, looked forward to learning. For the first time he spoke aloud in his excitement of being there and all the magic he was learning. Being around Hermione's unbridled enthusiasm was catching. His worries felt manageable.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was more learning of what were considered dark creatures than defense maneuvers. The professor, Quirrell, was a nervous type, which left the blond wondering why and fine with this teaching method. Astronomy was fascinating in all the meanings of the stars and charting. If exhausting for the time it needed to take place. History of Magic, well, the book was fascinating and Dudley had always enjoyed history lessons in primary. It was a crashing disappointment at the ghost droning on with no infliction or excitement to his voice. He'd pointed to a couple books to Hermione then, books checked out on the famous people of the magic world. She'd brightened and asked if she could borrow them after him. Herbology was fascinating with all the plants, but it wasn't him but Neville who felt more at ease in a greenhouse. It would have been more enjoyable to share that class with Gryffindor than Ravenclaw.

"We share Potions," she pointed out. "Are you looking forward to that class? I know I am."

It'd been funny to see Hermione's eyes go wide when he said he was and why he was looking forward to the class. Dudley walked back to the dorm area, seeing two other doors open other than his. Blaise barely gave him a look, busy gathering up all his shower items. Draco gave another shout through the door which led to Vincent's room, telling him to get up, before saying morning to Dudley and heading off to use the loo. Chucking his own shower items back in his room, he went around to the door beside his and pounded on it.

There was a sudden scrambling noise from the other side. It didn't take long for the messy black hair to pop through the door and through the top of a shirt. "Hey Dud! I overslept, sorry. You good? I'll be ready in a minute." Tossing the covers back onto his bed and shoving on his trainers, Harry gave a couple swipes across his hair before grabbing his schoolbag. "Did I beat the minute?"

"Did you find it?"

Green eyes blinked. "Find what?"

"Filch's office," Dudley said in a lower voice. With all the other boys up and running around getting ready, they were mostly ignored. The blond rolled his eyes and poked his cousin. Harry shouldn't be looking so stunned at that. "Come on. You went on about how that thing was the first thing you wanted to get your hands on."

"I overslept," Harry repeated. Then he sighed when Dudley didn't seem to be buying it. "I was hoping to have it to surprise you with it. It wasn't there. He had all sorts of confiscated items. Think he chucked it?"

"Could be. Doubt you need it though," Dudley muttered. Harry grinned and waggled his eyebrows. "You do know your mother sent an owl to one of the professors before the school year started, right? The professor could be even more skilled than Aunt Lily catching you at sneaking around."

His cousin pouted. "She did?" He whined. Then brightened. "But Mum doesn't if she's distracted and look at all the other students to distract, which professor was it?"

Dudley shrugged, huffing in amusement at Harry's crestfallen face. They trooped down to the common room, finding Pansy Parkinson and Tracey Davis waiting on one of the couches. There was a moment Pansy perked up at them coming down. Dudley knew from the past week, Pansy would only jump up off the couch once Draco entered the room. Until then, the girl went back to gossiping with Tracey. Daphne Greengrass, smooth blonde hair pinned back on her right side as usual, glanced over for a moment from her book. He inched forward to see what she was reading today and she snapped it shut with a breathy huff.

Harry sniggered from beside him.

"Do you mind?" She didn't even turn her upturned nose toward him. "It is considered rude to be reading over one's shoulder and you have been blocking my light all week."

She spoke to him. He brightened as Daphne finally turned to face him too, irritated.

"Yeah, Dudley's not sneaky at all," Harry pipped in with a wide grin. "It's considered rude not to face a person when you're talking either. So it's not really all my cousin's fault. He doesn't say anyth—"

"Besides the revolt he was responsible for, do you think Elfric the Eager made a worthy difference in easing tensions of money interactions between the goblin race with the wizards in the long run? Or if what he did to reach that goal made it tensions worse, leading to the death of his daughter and the revolt?" Dudley hesitated a little at seeing one of her eyebrows raise up at him. Then defended himself. "I like reading biographies."

"I see. I merely prefer being thorough and spending my time wisely," she responded primly.

Dudley got the feeling this wasn't really the reason why she spent the mornings reading. Maybe it was because she usually didn't speak up or gossip much with the other girls. He would call her not social except her words were observant, cool, and to the point. Poised. And calm in a way he was not. Or it could be she truly was annoyed with the interruption in her moment of extra background reading from the History of Magic class.

"But to answer you," Daphne continued on unexpectedly. "I believe, yes, yes he did make a worthy difference. Despite the hostile response and the death, it opened up passageways and thoughts of improvement which had not been there before with all the truly bloodthirsty rebellions piling up between us and them. One still can't trust them with any certainty after all."

With that, the girl went back to her book. It didn't last long as the rest of the boys stampeded down a couple minutes later, followed shortly with Pansy jumping up to greet Draco. Not long after, Millicent Bulstrode and Sally Smith made their way down, the whole group of first years leaving for breakfast in the Great Hall. And then off to the class that ranked up there in looking forward to, Potions. Dudley knew it was their head of house who was the professor of that class. The same man who had such a visual reaction to Harry's sorting. Very probably, the Slytherin friend Aunt Lily had and Uncle James so disliked. It was sure to go badly in some way that.

Dudley waved at Neville anyway outside the Potions classroom, whose round face lit up as he hurried over to them. "How's your week been Neville? Gryffindor house going all right for you? Bet your gran likes that." Harry snorted, but Neville nodded and looked shy about it. "Hey, being wrong about Hufflepuff is a good thing. We wouldn't have shared classes then."

"How," Neville began uncertainly. "How is Slytherin?"

"They're in Slytherin," Ron accused suddenly.

"Shut up Weasley."

"Don't be ridiculous, there's nothing wrong with—"

"But Slytherins can't be trusted—"

"That's funny." Hermione crossed her arms, scowling. "You were all best mates on the train here."

"Yes and we see just how great a Gryffindor is after, don't we," sneered Draco.

"He is a Weasley." Pansy stepped up beside Draco.

"And he's a Malfoy!"

"I'm a Potter," Harry chimed in loudly and then whooped when the corridor went silent at his proclamation. Dudley patted his cousin on the shoulder, approving. Harry spun about. "Well, I will say Ron's not that great at playing Bullshit, but he's an all right bloke."

Draco goggled, the girls looked shocked, and a few boys giggled. "Playing Bullshit Potter?"

"A card game. Just don't play it near adults because they get all weird when they hear kids swearing even though they do it themselves. Want to play sometime?" Harry gave a disarming grin. "It's fun. Let's do a big group playing it sometime. Everyone invited. It gets old with Dudley and Neville."

Neville shook his head.

"I think Neville and I will sit off to the side to watch." The blond gave Neville a smile, who ducked his head down in amusement. Decidedly not as amused, Harry shot them both a look and spoke up again before they could give away how good he was at the card game.

"How's Saturday night sound for everyone?"

Before there were any takers, a professor clad in black made his way around the corner, longs robes snapping with purpose. It was their head of house for Slytherin. Dark eyes flickered across the group scattering aside for him as he passed, opened the door, and strode inside. Mute, all the students hurried inside.

Hermione hurried to take up the work station beside Dudley, Harry glancing over in confusion at how she leaned toward them. The bushy haired girl motioned for a nervous Neville to set up his cauldron beside her and Dudley sent as reassuring nod as possible over to the boy. What followed was the most rousing, motivating, and terrifying speech over the subject of Potions Dudley had heard in his life. It as though the man took everything his aunt said about the art of potion making, packed it all down into one neat package, and lobbed it at them. It was impressive.

Even Harry was enthralled, quickly taking out his quill to scratch a few notes.

"Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

"Asphodel?" Startled as he was, Dudley could tell Harry was thinking over the question. He ought to get it once he remembered the connection to his mum. Aunt Lily liked to say how something related to the flower she was named after could help grant sleep to the long term patients at St. Mungo's Hospital. Hermione's hand waved wildly in the air, looking both eager and delighted at knowing the answer. "Oh! It's a sleeping potion professor. A powerful one called Draught of the Living Death."

The professor's lip turned up. "Correct. Point to Slytherin. Weasley! Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

Startled, strange noises gurgled up from Ron's throat. Hermione's arm flew up into the air again. Professor Snape's dark eyes noticed, twitching at the sight. Dudley got her attention and made a motion to his parchment, miming writing it down. Which she did with the hand she didn't have up in the air.

"Er, I don't know." Baffled, the red headed boy stared up at the man in front of him, then quickly tacked on, "Sir."

"Thought you didn't have to open your book before you came to class? Point from Gryffindor. Longbottom!" Man and black cloak swooped upon the trembling boy sitting next to Hermione. Dudley went stiff, alert. "What is the difference between wolfsbane and monkshood?"

"N-none. It's the same plant," Neville said softly. "Aconite."

Professor Snape gazed down over his hooked nose at Neville before returning to the front of the classroom. "Correct." Dudley shot Neville a thumbs up from where he sat. Harry leaned over him, jabbing his own thumb out. Neville ducked his head, face red, mumbling something about it only being plants. "Well, why aren't you all copying that down?"

The whole classroom rushed for their parchments and quills, the lesson continuing and leading up to being asked to work on a simple cure for boils. Dudley glanced up to double check the steps before he began. Crushing the snakefangs, he turned to his horned slug, rolling them briskly back and forth across the work station table before tossing them in.

Professor Snape paused in stalking among the work stations next to Dudley.

"Why exactly did you roll your horned slugs? I do not believe it is written in the directions Dursley."

The blond peered back across the room and squinted at the board's directions again. Sure enough, there wasn't anything written about rolling the slugs. "Sorry Professor Snape. My aunt is a potioneer and she says rolling them softens them up, helping with the consistency."

"Really?"

"That's a point from Gryffindor for speaking out of turn Granger." The professor's dark eyes didn't move from where Dudley was and Harry shuffled closer beside him. Then Professor Snape glanced to the side, lip curling at Harry's glare, before snapping back to Dudley. Through the curtain of black hair, the man's eyes trailed down him, lingering on his legs. The blond took a step back into his cousin. "I see. This is...unexpected. Continue on."

Professor Snape's robes billowed as he continued around the work stations. Dudley breathed a sigh of relief, going back to his cauldron. Harry suddenly nudged him, fighting a snicker as he pointed. From the work station beside them, Hermione was rolling her own horned slugs. Dudley's eyes went back to their head of house though.

He didn't actually know the man. Here he had been expecting the professor who hated his uncle from back when they were kids. That Harry, who looked more like his dad, would be the one under scrutiny. Aunt Lily had never introduced them to this Slytherin friend from childhood and Dudley had assumed the friendship unraveled due to her being together with James. The man wasn't what he'd expected in class toward Harry and Dudley couldn't say for sure how Potions class in general would go under the man. So he felt unnerved by the attention. All sense of privacy from this morning's shower was gone and the blond moved closer behind the work station, feeling very much exposed.


End file.
